At least 3 dead, 8 missing after Hurricane Agatha triggers landslides and floods in Mexico
- The storm was the strongest to make landfall along Mexico’s Pacific coast in May since record keeping began in 1949, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said
- Agatha weakened as it moved inland after lashing coastal tourist towns, but its remnants continued to bring downpours to parts of southern Mexico
Hurricane Agatha left at least three people dead and eight missing in southern Mexico, where heavy rains triggered landslides and flooding, officials said on Tuesday.
The storm, the first hurricane of the Pacific season, was the strongest to make landfall along Mexico’s Pacific coast in May since record keeping began in 1949, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.
Agatha weakened as it moved inland after lashing coastal tourist towns, but its remnants continued to bring downpours to parts of southern Mexico.
“Heavy rains that occurred early on Tuesday morning caused rivers to burst their banks and landslides,” the governor of Oaxaca state, Alejandro Murat, told the media.
“Three people have been reported dead and eight missing,” he added.
Two people aged 18 and 21 years old died when part of a hill collapsed in the community of Santa Catarina Xanaguia, the Oaxaca civil protection office said.
Another woman died and her son was injured in a landslide in Llano del Chillar, it said.