Among the dead were five people who were riding in a van that was pushed into a river by a surge of mud.

Local officials appealed for heavy machinery to be sent in to clear debris blocking three kilometers (nearly two miles) of an important road.

Civil defense officials said an estimated 630 homes were unusable after the landslides, which also hit bridges, irrigation canals and roads.

Constant rains are frequent in February in Peru and often cause deadly landslides.