GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) - Rescue workers yesterday were searching for victims of a mudslide near a volcano-ringed lake popular with tourists in Guatemala, as the death toll from flooding sparked by heavy rains climbed to 79 across this country and 65 in neighbouring El Salvador.

Downpours have battered much of Central America and southern Mexico since the weekend, and it was still raining in most areas, causing rivers to overflow and carry off homes and people and huge chunks of land to give way, burying everything in their path.

Forecasters at the US Hurricane Center said the rain was likely to continue for the next few days because of regional weather patterns.

In a statement released late Wednesday night, Guatemalan emergency response officials reported that 79 people had been killed and 49 other injured in 88 communities affected by flooding and landslides.

The hardest hit area was believed to be a town close to Lake Atitlan, a breathtaking freshwater reserve surrounded by volcanos and Mayan communities, 60 miles (100 kilometres) west of the capital, Guatemala City.

There, emergency officials pulled 15 bodies from the mud and said the death toll would likely rise as authorities were able to step up search efforts hindered by continued rains.

"We have 79 deaths, but we have not finished a final count," said Benedicto Giron, a spokesman for emergency response officials.

As the rain let up a bit yesterday, Guatemalan authorities were trying to restore access to 300 roadways blocked by fallen trees, flooding and landslides.

In El Salvador, President Tony Saca said 65 people had been killed, mostly by landslides. Nearly 40,650 others fled their homes for 361 shelters set up nationwide.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World