(Adds details on confirmed death)

BOGOTA, June 9 (Reuters) - Colombia has confirmed its first death from the H1N1 flu virus which has killed more than 140 people across the world, local authorities said on Tuesday.

The victim was a woman, 24, from a poor Bogota neighborhood, who died on June 5 while hospitalized in the capital, Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio and health officials told reporters.

Colombia now has 34 confirmed cases of the virus, most of whom recently returned from overseas travel.

The World Health Organization is on the verge of declaring the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years because of the new H1N1 strain, which has spread to 73 countries and infected more than 26,500 people. (Reporting by Patrick Markey in Bogota)

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