Mudslides, flooding from rains kill at least 6 in southern Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Heavy rains brought by the remnants of Tropical Storm Trudy have caused mudslides and flooding in southern Mexico that left at least six people dead.

Raul Miliani, deputy secretary of Civil Protection in Guerrero state, told a news conference Sunday that five of the dead were killed in the municipality of Ometepec, 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Acapulco, where part of a water-soaked mountainside collapsed and a raging river swept away a 70-year-old man.

The sixth person died in Tlacoachistlahuaca, a municipality near the border with Oaxaca state.

Miliani said states of emergency have been declared in 36 municipalities, and that 4,075 people were evacuated to shelters.

He said classes had been suspended for an area stretching from the tourist resort of Acapulco to the border with Oaxaca.