Wedding party crushed by mudslide in Peru

Dozens dead and injured in city around 100 miles west of major tourism hub Cusco

At least 15 people have been killed and 34 injured after a wedding party in Peru was crushed by a mudslide.

Five injured guests remain in a critical condition, Jorge Chavez, the head of the country's civil defence institute said.

Around 100 people were dancing at the wedding, in the gardens of a hotel in the southern town of Abancay, around 100 miles west of Cusco, when the disaster occurred.

A roof collapsed during the mudslide and in turn caused the heavy tent above the wedding party to suddenly crush the gathered crowd, just after midnight on Sunday.

At least 30 people were pulled from the debris with injuries and were being treated at a nearby hospital.

"The mudslide broke through the walls of the hotel, crashing through," Evaristo Ramos, the mayor of Abancay, told Peruvian radio station RPP.

Thirteen people were killed instantly.

The hotel wall and roof collapsed on Sunday (Peru INDECI)

Abancay has been battered with five days of continuous rain which led to the mudlside, said Rusby Zela, the regional head of civil defence.

Additional reporting by agencies