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Colombia mudslide toll rises to 22

MANIZALES, Colombia — Mudslides in western Colombia after days of heavy rain have killed at least 22 people and dozens are still missing, according to an updated official toll Sunday.

Six bodies were found earlier in the day, bringing the death toll to 22, Sandra Calvo of the government's risk management division told AFP, noting that 17 others were injured.

About 70 people are still missing, according to local media, though officials could not confirm the figure.

After several mudslides on Saturday, 150 rescuers were able to pull five members of the same family from the rubble in the city of Manizales.

Four other people however died in Manizales, the capital of Caldas, when another landslide swept into homes where more than 30 families live.

The mudslide triggered by heavy rains destroyed at least 14 homes in the city and damaged three others.

Colombia has been battered by one of its worst rainy seasons in living memory this year, with dozens killed and some 250,000 people having to be evacuated from their homes.

Between April 2010 and April 2011, particularly heavy rains triggered by the La Nina phenomenon -- associated with cooler-than-normal water temperatures -- left over 400 people dead and 3.6 million affected by the disaster.