Families mourn as death toll climbs in Guatemala landslides

Nahuala, Guatemala (CNN) -- Officials say about 40 people were buried in two landslides here. Four of them were Carlos Coti's family members.

"They left behind 20 orphans, because each one had four, five or six children they left behind," he said.

The first landslide knocked a number of vehicles and a bus off the road. When nearby residents rushed to the scene to help, a second mudslide crashed down on the same spot, the nation's disaster agency said.

Constant rains have forced rescue crews to stop and restart their searches for the missing, as anxious family members look on.

Disaster officials report that torrential rains and landslides have left at least 44 dead, 56 injured and 16 missing. On Monday, President Alvaro Colom declared three days of national mourning.

"The firefighters and rescue teams are working with the government's equipment so that we can come out of this human tragedy," Colom said as he visited one landslide site.

Around 11,500 residents have been evacuated and 9,000 have taken refuge in shelters, the nation's disaster agency said. More than 43,000 people are at risk from the punishing rain, said to be the strongest in 60 years.

Over the weekend, authorities closed parts of the Inter-American Highway after rains washed out sections of the road and caused at least two accidents.

Thousands of homes, in addition to infrastructure and fields of crops, also were damaged by the heavy rains.

The torrential downpours come several months after more than 150 people died when Tropical Storm Agatha hit Guatemala in May.

Destruction from that storm was widespread throughout the nation, with mudslides destroying homes and buildings and burying some victims. At least nine rivers had dramatically higher levels and 13 bridges collapsed, Guatemala's emergency services agency said.

The May downpours created a sinkhole the size of a street intersection in northern Guatemala City. Residents told CNN that a three-story building and a house fell into the hole.