New mudslide in Guatemala mountains kills 40
 

TECPAN, Guatemala, Friday (Reuters)

A huge mudslide engulfed dozens of homes in Guatemala's Maya Indian highlands, killing 40 people as rains and flash floods from Hurricane Stan devastated Central America and southern Mexico.

The tragedy struck two indigenous hamlets in the municipality of Santiago Atitlan, a popular destination for U.S. and European tourists, injuring some 300 people, local government officials said on Thursday.

There were no immediate reports of foreigners killed.

With the new victims, 211 people have now died in floods and mudslides in Central America and southern Mexico in the last few days in the wake of Hurricane Stan.

Benedicto Giron, spokesman for the civil protection agency said he did not know how many people were missing in the landslide but rescue workers told Guatemalan radio that hundreds might be unaccounted for.

Roads blocked by mud, rocks and tree trunks made it tough for rescue workers to reach the area, in the department of Solola.

Helicopters were grounded due to thick fog.

"We are trying to get help to these people but the weather has not improved in that region where it is still raining," Giron told a radio station. "We are going to send our support forces to Solola."

Santiago Atitlan sits on Lake Atitlan, a collapsed volcanic cone filled with turquoise water.

Rain-sodden hills collapsed throughout the region, burying mostly poor peasants. Many of the victims lived in flimsy wooden and tin shacks.

As floodwaters blocked rescue efforts across Central America, mourning Mayan villagers solemnly laid out the dead.

"I have nothing, the water took everything," said Basilio Garcia, weeping beside the body of his 10-year-old granddaughter in a fire station in Tecpan, west of Guatemala City.

Six corpses were laid out on the floor and surrounded by mourning townspeople in traditional dress.