(New throughout)

BOGOTA, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Twenty two Colombian gold prospectors, most of them women, died in a landslide that swamped their makeshift mine in the impoverished southwestern part of the country, a Red Cross spokesman said on Sunday.

Sixteen women were among those killed in Saturday's disaster at the Suarez Gold Mine, Colombian Red Cross spokesman Carlos Marquez told Reuters.

"All the victims were people from Suarez who worked, informally, in the mine," Marquez said. "This is a region where there are a lot of single mothers and their only source of work is the mine."

Residents of the town of Suarez, in Cauca province, told reporters they intended to go back to prospecting in the open pit mine, despite attempts by local authorities to close the operation due to unsafe conditions.

About 26 people, half of them women, were treated for injuries on Saturday just after the landslide, Marquez said.

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