Dozens die in Bolivia floods

Torrential rain and floods in Bolivia have killed 38 people and left many homeless, the government says, as forecasters predicted more heavy rainfall.

The Ministry of Defence said it had flown in food aid and the army was evacuating families from the worst affected regions, such as the Amazonian and cattle-rearing department of Beni, northeast of the capital La Paz.

Around 100,000 head of cattle are threatened and some 6,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed, around 0.2 percent of Bolivia's total, the government said.

More than 40,000 households have been affected by the heavy seasonal rains since October, around five times more than last year, with the central and northern regions of the country hardest hit.