At least 17 people were reported missing on Wednesday after a mudslide slammed into a hamlet in Peru's mountainous jungle region, Civil Defense officials said.

The avalanche of mud and rocks swept away four homes when it crashed into El Porvenir, in the northern department of San Martin, at dawn, officials said.

Rescuers rushed to El Porvenir, where mostly area farmers live, to search for survivors, regional Civil Defense authorities said. Heavy rain in Peru's Andean region in recent weeks has triggered several landslides.