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12 Dead, 145 Missing in Colombia Mudslide


A woman sits in front of her home, destroyed by a landslide that buried dozens of houses and left dozens trapped beneath mud and rubble following weeks of drenching rains, in Bello, northwestern Colombia, 06 Dec. 2010
A woman sits in front of her home, destroyed by a landslide that buried dozens of houses and left dozens trapped beneath mud and rubble following weeks of drenching rains, in Bello, northwestern Colombia, 06 Dec. 2010

Rescue officials say at least 12 bodies have been recovered from a mudslide in northern Colombia that may have buried another 145.

Torrential rains caused the mudslide that engulfed dozens of homes Sunday outside Colombia's second-largest city, Medellin.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the unusually heavy rainfalls could leave more than 2 million people homeless. Before Sunday's disaster, heavy rains had killed around 170 people this year in Colombia.

In neighboring Venezuela, driving rains have triggered flooding and cave-ins that have killed 34 people and left an estimated 90,000 people homeless.

Officials blame the downpours on the La Nina weather phenomenon, during which cooler-than-normal water temperatures exist in the Tropical Pacific Ocean.

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