MEDELLIN, Colombia, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A 12-year-old boy was killed and 15 people were missing and feared dead after a mudslide destroyed part of an upscale neighborhood in the Colombian city of Medellin on Sunday, local authorities said.

The northern industrial city, like much of the rest of Colombia, has been hit by seasonal rains that have saturated the earth, leading to deadly avalanches in hilly areas.

The mudslide in El Poblado, Medellin's most affluent district, swept away houses as their occupants slept early on Sunday morning, local police told reporters.

The home of Carlos Sanchez, who for 37 years promoted Colombian coffee as the mustachioed character Juan Valdez familiar from advertising campaigns, is located next to the destroyed area. Sanchez was unhurt. (Reporting by Albeiro Lopera; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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