Floods, landslides kill 124 in El Salvador

Inhabitants survey the rubbles of houses near Acahuapa River in San Vicente, some 70km east of San Salvador on Sunday. At least 124 people have been killed in El Salvador by the severe flooding and landslides.Photo: AFP

Floods and landslides left at least 124 people dead in El Salvador yesterday after a late-season hurricane ravaged parts of Central America and took aim for the United States.
Landslides and overflowing rivers carried away houses, while a raging torrent ripped through an entire section of one town. Some of the bodies were taken to a chapel and covered in mud-caked sheets.
"All we heard in the morning was loud noise," Arnoldo Paz, a resident of Verapaz in the central region of the country, told AFP.
"It was a torrent of water and mud that swept away everything in its path. All I could do was tell my wife to grab the kids and flee."
He said his house had been swept away by the current.
Although Hurricane Ida did not hit El Salvador directly, it brought heavy rain that affected the entire region. The storm was crossing the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, heading toward the United States.
Late Sunday, President Mauricio Funes declared a state of emergency in the Pacific coast country of some seven million people, saying the rains and subsequent flooding had claimed at least 124 lives.
"Today is a very sad day for the country and its government, in fact it is one of the most tragic days in memory," Funes said in a televised address to the nation.
"I want to express my condolences to the families of the 124 victims that have been identified thus far."
Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez sought to reassure his compatriots by saying El Salvador was not facing the tragedy alone, and that international help was on the way.