COLOMBIA: At least eight people have been killed by mudslides sweeping over parts of towns in western Colombia following ongoing heavy rain.

In one of the incidents that hit Quindio and Caldas departments, four people were buried alive as they slept in their homes in El Castillo, a hamlet in the rural town of Calarca. Another nine people were injured, Red Cross officials said.

Four people were killed in the city of Manizales, the capital of Caldas, when another landslide swept into homes where about 32 families live, leaving four people dead and an unknown number missing.

Twelve people were rescued in that incident, the Red Cross said.

Colombia is having one of its worst rainy seasons in memory. As of Monday it had left 37 people dead, 43 injured, and seven missing and had forced the evacuations of at least 245,420 people. AGENCIES