NAHUALA, Guatemala, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- At least 44 people are dead and dozens injured or missing following massive mudslides in Guatemala, the country's disaster agency said.
The first landslide knocked a number of vehicles off a road and when nearby residents came to help a second wall of mud crashed down on them, CNN reported Tuesday.
Constant rains have forced rescue crews to stop and start their search for victims as anxious family members wait for news.
Some 11,500 residents have been evacuated since the torrential rains began several months after Tropical Storm Agatha hit Guatemala in May.
Thousands of homes have been damaged along with entire fields of crops.
"The firefighters and rescue teams are working with the government's equipment so that we can come out of this human tragedy," Guatemalan president Alvaro Colom said when he visited one landslide site.
Colom called for three days of national mourning on Monday.
