New Delhi, March 14 -- Ethiopia on Tuesday declared three days of mourning as the death toll from this week's landslides in the country's south climbed to 80.

Speaker of the House of Peoples' Representatives Tagesse Chafo said the three days of mourning would begin Saturday.

At least 80 bodies have been recovered from the Gamo Zone area in southern Ethiopia where landslides triggered by heavy rains killed dozens of residents.

Many other people remained missing since the tragedy struck the Gamo Zone area on Tuesday, officials said. Search and recovery efforts have taken place for days and have been hampered by heavy rain still pounding the area.

Regional government communications head Hailemariam Tesfaye said that the search for remain...