'Heroic rescuer'
Reports have also emerged of acts of heroism by members of the public during the floods, including Muelmar Magallanes, who rescued more than 30 people, but ended up sacrificing his own life.
With the help of his older brother, the 18-year-old construction worker tied rope around his waist and took his siblings to safety before going back to the house for his parents, according to the AFP news agency.
Later, he decided go back to save neighbours trapped on rooftops. He then dived back in again when he saw a mother and her six-month-old baby daughter in the water.
"I didn't know that the current was so strong. In an instant, I was under water. We were going to die," the mother Menchie Penalosa told AFP.
"Then this man came from nowhere and grabbed us. He took us to where the other neighbours were, and then he was gone," she added.
Witnesses said an exhausted Mr Megallanes was simply swept away by the water.
His father Samuel said: "He always had a good heart. We had already been saved. But he decided to go back one last time for the girl."
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