Floods kill 20 in Guatemala
GUATEMALA CITY -- (AP) -- Floods and mudslides from four days
of torrential
rains have wrecked buildings and bridges and swept through villages
in
Guatemala, leaving at least 20 people dead, officials said Saturday.
Authorities have evacuated more than 200 families.
Three people were rescued Saturday from a school that collapsed
under the
weight of heavy rains in Zacapa, 70 miles northwest of Guatemala
City.
In the mountain hamlet of Teleman, 125 miles north of the capital,
crews Saturday
recovered the bodies of 15 people swept away by strong currents
Wednesday
while trying to push a pickup across a river. Nine others in
the truck survived.
On Thursday, mudslides buried two poor communities on the hillsides
outside the
capital, killing three children and one woman.
Forecasters expected the rains to continue.