Rescue workers with sniffer dogs are at the scene and said they had managed to rescue seven people so far. One body has been recovered from beneath the tonnes of rubble, said disaster management officials.

Landslides are common in the Colombian Andes region - the latest was triggered by the heaviest rains in the country in four decades.

The Red Cross says 176 people have been killed by the rains this year and thousands have had to leave their homes.

Sunday's landslide hit the La Gabriela district of Bello, north of Medellin, at 1900 GMT.

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin said local people were initially digging for survivors with their bare hands, after a large section of hillside fell onto the poor La Gabriela area of the city, in Antioquia province.

Emergency teams then arrived with specialist equipment and lighting. Disaster official John Rendon said at least 50 people were missing but that the number could be higher.

Most major rivers in Colombia have burst their banks as a result of the heavy rain, and tens of thousands of people have been left homeless.