Eight die in Colombia mudslides

More than 1,000 people are reported to have been affected

Landslides in south-west Colombia have left at least eight people dead.

Dozens are reported missing after mud swept through the Buenaventura region, on the Pacific coast, among them eight soldiers who were at a checkpoint.

The area has been cut off from the rest of the country. Rescue workers have been reaching the area on foot, as well as by air and sea.

Officials say the rescue work has been hampered by the armed groups involved in Colombia's internal conflict.

Governor Angelino Garzon urged the armed groups - especially the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) - to let the rescue teams do their work and call an Easter ceasefire, Radio Caracol reports.

Wet season

The mudslides were triggered by heavy rains which started on Tuesday night and led to several rivers bursting their banks in the early hours of Wednesday.

Dozens of homes were swept away by water and mud, and more than 1,000 people are reported to have been affected.

Emergency workers are sifting through the mud in the hope of finding survivors.

More than 40 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by floods and mudslides in this year's wet season, which has also seen thousands of hectares of crops destroyed.

The rainy season began in March and is forecast to continue until June.