Mudslide death toll above 50 in storms

MEXICO CITY — More than 50 people have died in mudslides around Guatemala, the country’s president said Thursday afternoon, adding to the death toll in Central America from a vast storm system dumping heavy rainfall across the region.

At least 23 other people throughout Central America have died or are missing as a result of the storm, according to news reports.

In central Guatemala, one mudslide alone buried 25 houses with dozens of people trapped inside, President Alejandro Giammattei said at his news conference. The extent of the casualties from that mudslide was unclear.

“Right now we’re trying to get there on foot because we can’t get there any other way,” Giammattei said. “We’re mobilizing all the support we have.”

The storm system roared ashore along the northeast Caribbean coast of Nicaragua on Tuesday as a Category 4 hurricane called Eta, before grinding slowly through northern Nicaragua and across Honduras.

It has unleashed torrential rains throughout Central America that have, in turn, caused widespread flooding and devastating mudslides.

By early evening Thursday, the weather system was centered 65 miles westnorthwest of La Ceiba.