BOGOTA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Eight bodies have been recovered from the wreckage left by a mudslide that swept away part of an upscale neighborhood in the Colombian city of Medellin, authorities said on Monday.

Four other victims have not been recovered, emergency officials said.

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

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, according to civil defense authorities.

Northern industrial city Medellin, 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. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Hugh Bronstein)

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