ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A landslide in Ethiopia's northern Amhara regional state has left eight people dead, an Ethiopian official said on Thursday.

In a press statement, Getnet Demis, chief disaster prevention officer of the Goncha district communications office, said the landslide happened on Thursday morning in Enegenet village, leaving eight people dead, six of them from one family.

Demis said emergency aid is being given to several other residents of the district who survived the landslide but had their homes destroyed.

He further said there are plans to relocate about 17 villages that are deemed to be vulnerable to landslide, to prevent a recurrence of deadly disaster, with his office looking at finding alternative homes for villagers living in landslide-prone areas.

On Thursday, the Ethiopia Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission, warned that heavy rainfall during the current rainy season will extend until September and is likely to trigger landslides and flash floods.