GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – A landslide on one of Guatemala’s major highways buried a bus yesterday, killing at least nine people and injuring around 25 more, emergency workers said.
Rescuers had to bring in heavy equipment to reach some of the victims trapped in the bus, which was suddenly engulfed by mud around 8 am on the Inter-American highway 50 miles (80 km) outside of the capital.
Tropical weather systems in both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico have triggered torrential rains throughout Guatemala and southern Mexico.
Heavy flooding in the Mexican Gulf state of Tabasco forced thousands of people from their homes. Authorities in neighbouring Chiapas and Oaxaca states, which border Guatemala, and the Gulf state of Veracruz also reported serious flooding.
“The bad weather in the southeast has caused the worst rainy season on record. We are marshalling aid for the affected area,” wrote Mexican President Felipe Calderon on his Twitter page.
The state power monopoly warned it would have to open floodgates on some hydroelectric dams in the region to reduce water levels, which would likely worsen flooding in some low-lying areas.
No deaths were blamed on the flooding in Mexico.
Mexico’s state oil company Pemex, which has extensive oil and gas operations in Tabasco state and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, reported no problems with production.
