Bogota - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Thursday visited some of the areas worst hit by heavy rain that has killed 16 people since March and caused damage to the property of more than 124,000 people.

Uribe flew over several towns in the Medium Magdalena area and attended a rally in La Dorada in the centre-western province of Caldas. He promised aid to those affected and said several of his ministers would travel to the area over the weekend.

According to the latest official figures, flooding since mid-March has left 16 people dead, five missing, 124,300 people with damaged property, close to 13,000 damaged homes and 300 destroyed homes.

Luz Amanda Pulido, director of Colombia's Office for Disaster Prevention, said Thursday that the government will set up special soft loans to be granted by state banks to help those who suffered damage to their property and particularly those who have lost their crops.

The rain has affected 207 municipalities in 27 of the country's 32 provinces.

The government plans to use 10. s2 million dollars from the National Disaster Fund to help those affected by the rain.

The number of people whose property has been damaged increased by 40,000 since the weekend due to the overflow of the country's largest river, the Magdalena, and of one of its main tributaries, the Cauca.

Flooding and mudslides have critically affected the provinces of Antioquia, Cundinamarca, Boyaca, Caldas and Santander.

The cities of Medellin and Manizales are virtually isolated by several landslides on the roads leading to them.

Medellin is suffering additional trouble after mudslides blocked roads to the city's international airport, only days before it hosts a regional summit.

The authorities were working hard to ensure that the delegations expected in the city from Sunday for the three-day General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) could indeed get to Medellin.

Meteorology experts said the rain was set to continue at least two more weeks. (dpa)