BOGOTA — At least 11 people were killed in a landslide in southwest Colombia, emergency services said on Tuesday evening according to the DPA.

The landslide was triggered by heavy rain on Tuesday morning in the hamlet of San Miguel in the Narino department near Colombia's border with Ecuador.

The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said 11 people were killed in the landslide, 10 injured and two homes were destroyed, adding that 15 to 20 people were missing.

The civil protection agency meanwhile said that 12 bodies had been recovered so far from the site of the landslide.

Earlier on Tuesday it had said that six people had been pulled out alive. Rescue operations were still under way.

The landslide occurred after heavy rains in the rural municipality of Mallama. The country's disaster relief agency UNGRD Director Eduardo Joze Gonzalez is scheduled to travel "first thing in the morning" to the site of the landslide.

He already deployed rescue teams to the area. However, operations were suspended because of the potential for more landslides due to rains. The search operation will resume Wednesday morning.

Landslides are common in mountainous Colombia, especially during the rainy season. Houses built on hillsides are especially at risk given the imminent dangers of debris and water overflow. — Agencies