Peru landslide buries scores of homes, many trapped

A landslide in the northern Peruvian town of Retamas has buried dozens of homes and trapped at least 15 people, according to authorities.

"The landslide covered ... between 60 and 80 homes" according to initial reports, the governor of the La Libertad region, Manuel Llempen, told RPP radio.

The landslide happened on Tuesday at 8:30 am [local time] in the Andean village of Retamas in La Libertad.

"We have six people missing, among them three children and three adults," Jorge Luis Escobar, the risk management director at the Health Ministry, told Channel N television.

There were no reports of fatalities but several people trapped under the mud were rescued by neighbours who managed to smash holes in walls and roofs to reach those inside, local media said.

"There are many people trapped inside houses," said Llempen.

"No! God! Everything has been covered," cried one person who filmed the landslide, believed to have been caused by heavy rainfall in La Libertad.

"I was able to get out in time, but my house was buried. The landslide left us with nothing," Ledy Leiva, who escaped with five other members of her family, told RPP radio.

Mining families in Andes

President Pedro Castillo said the government would help families affected by the disaster.

He said Defence Minister Jose Gavidia and the head of the civil defence agency had travelled to the area.

Retamas is a village inhabited by mining families some 500 kilometres north of Lima.

Landslides are frequent in the wet summers of the Peruvian Andes.

Peru has high rates of housing informality, with homes often built on the edges of rivers or on the sides of hills prone to landslides.

"We are drilling into the walls and saving and rescuing people whose homes have been covered," Llempen said.