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Rescuers have recovered 12 bodies from a mudslide in northwestern Colombia that may have buried up to 145 people after weeks of heavy rain, officials said on Monday.

A sodden hillside collapsed on Sunday in Bello town, near Antioquia province's capital Medellin, burying about 50 homes.

"There are 145 people missing, including the 12 dead who have been recovered up until now," Antioquia Governor Luis Alfredo Ramos told reporters in Bello.

Disaster official John Freddy Rendon said the dead includes a 13-year-old boy.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos said on Sunday "the tragedy the country is going through has no precedents in our history".

He said the number of homeless from the rains could reach 2 million.

The president made the remarks after flying over the coastal region of Atlantico to see the situation first hand.

Before Sunday's disaster, heavy rains had killed around 170 people this year in the Andean nation.

The downpours in recent months are due to the La Nina phenomenon, which the government's weather office expects to last into the first quarter of next year.

The bad weather has also hindered the coffee, coal and agricultural sectors.

In neighboring Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez blamed "criminal" capitalism for global climate phenomena including the region's rains that have also killed more than 30 and left tens of thousands homeless in his country.

去聽寫專區(qū)一展身手

（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.