Rain hampers relief effort in Stan's wake

GUATEMALA CITY, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The death toll from Tropical Storm Stan approached 300 Friday in Central America and southern Mexico with thousands of people still missing.

Guatemala has been hardest hit by flooding from the storm's heavy rains, the BBC reported. At least 156 people were known to have been killed, including 50 buried by a mudslide in one village.

The rain washed out roads, making rescue difficult. Continued bad weather has also hampered relief efforts.

"The ground is saturated and we could have more tragedies," Salvadoran Red Cross spokesman Carlos Lopez Mendoza told the BBC.

Stan hit southern Mexico on Tuesday as a Category 1 hurricane and was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm and then to a tropical depression. But the storm brought heavy rain to the mountainous region.