Heavy rains cause kill at least 61 in Central America

Central American authorities say at least 66 people have died in flooding, landslides and bridge collapses provoked by six days of heavy rains. Evacuations are under way amid forecasts of more rain.

Central American authorities say at least 66 people have died in flooding, landslides and bridge collapses provoked by six days of heavy rains. Evacuations are under way amid forecasts of more rain.

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Salvadoran civil protection director Jorge Melendez says most of his country's 24 dead were buried in their homes by landslides.

Melendez told a news conference Sunday that residents are being evacuated from the flanks of the San Salvador volcano, where hundreds died in landslides in 1982.

The Guatemalan President has declared a state of emergency for his country, where at least 23 have died, and Honduras has seen at least nine deaths and evacuated more than 1,000 people.

Rains have started to ease in Nicaragua, where at least five have died.