At least 60 people have been killed after a landslide swept through a fishing village on the banks of Lake Albert in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The landslide in the village of Tora of Ituri province was triggered on Wednesday by heavy rain in recent weeks, officials said.

Pacifique Keta, deputy governor of Ituri province, told AFP news agency on Thursday that part of a mountain engulfed "a fisherman's camp after heavy rains caused a landslide".

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According to the governor's office and hospital officials, five people have been rescued while efforts were under way with hundreds of other villagers missing.

A doctor at the Tshomia Hospital, Herve Isamba, told AFP they were treating four people.

The affected village is located between a mountainous area and Lake Albert.

Congo is in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, with about 7.7 million people on the verge of starvation, according to UN food agencies.

The incident comes after more than 400 people were killed by a massive mudslide in Sierra Leone on Monday.

In May 2010, a mudslide swept over the eastern Congo village of Kibiriga and killed 19 people. Bodies of 27 others were never recovered.

In February 2002, about 50 people were found dead after a wave of mud and rocks hit the eastern town of Uvira, submerging about 150 homes.