LIMA – At least 12 people were killed in a mudslide triggered by torrential rains in Retamas, a mining town in northern Peru, officials said on Monday.

The head of the Indeci national emergency management agency, Eduardo Fiestas, said he planned to travel to La Libertad province Monday to deal with the natural disaster.

“I am hurrying to leave today, but we already have reports of 12 dead” in Sunday’s mudslide in Retamas, Fiestas told Efe.

“If the rain continues, the situation could get worse in Retamas,” which is situated on the side of a mountain and whose residents mine gold and silver, the emergency management chief said.

The informal mining operations in the town have affected the stability of the soil in the area, Fiestas said.

Torrential rains cause soil and other residual materials to flow off the mountain and into the town, the emergency management chief said.

Dozens of adobe dwellings were affected by the mudslide in Retamas, Peruvian media reported.

Since October 2008, nearly 50 people have been killed in Peru by mudslides and floods caused by torrential rains. EFE