Heavy rains leave 20 dead in Costa Rica

Escazu, Costa Rica, Agency
The death toll from a round of torrential rains in Costa Rica has risen to 20, while 600 people have been forced from their homes and authorities on Thursday declared a red alert in the country's central region and along the Pacific coast.

Red Cross spokesman Roger Nuñez told Efe that at least 20 people died in a landslide in the town of San Antonio de Escazu, in the western sector of San Jose, but that figure could continue to climb as emergency crews continue their work of locating bodies.

The scenario at the site of the landslide is desolate, as Efe was able to verify, with mud and rocks covering roads and burying vehicles and a number of homes, many of them belonging to very low-income families, and thus the ongoing rescue efforts are quite difficult.

Nuñez said that the extent of the mudslide, which started at the very peak of a hill, could be as much as 2 kilometers (1.24 miles), 800 meters (yards) of which includes sections of the town.

Authorities have not yet released an updated official tally of people who are missing, but on Thursday morning it had been reported that the whereabouts of between 15 and 30 people were unknown.

Meanwhile, government forecaster Werner Stoltz said Thursday at a press conference that Costa Rica is suffering from its worst storm "in years," with three times as much rain falling over just the last few days as normally falls in the entire month of November.

Stoltz's office forecasts that the heavy rains will continue through Friday along the Pacific and more moderate rainfall will be experienced in the central part of the country, the bad weather being due to a low pressure system that is an indirect effect of Tropical Storm Tomas.

The National Emergency Commission declared the maximum alert and evacuated about 600 people, while schools were closed until further notice in the central part of the country and along the Pacific coast.