BOGOTA -- At least 34 people were killed and more than 20 others injured by a landslide that buried part of the Quibdo-Medellin Highway in northwest Colombia, local authorities confirmed Saturday.

The government of Choco department, where the natural disaster occurred, said in a statement that 34 people have been confirmed dead and the bodies were transferred to Medellin, the capital city of Antioquia.

Earlier, Colombia's Vice President Francia Marquez confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that the disaster had left 33 dead and 25 injured, a dramatic increase in fatalities from the previous report of at least 18 deaths.

William Vivas, a local government official in Medellin, told reporters that "because it is an area of high rainfall, the constant rain causes a lot of instability in the mountains."