(Guadalajara) At least eight people died and two were still missing after a river flashed Monday in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, local authorities said.
“Eight people have died so far and the search continues for two more,” Jalisco’s civil protection service said in a statement Monday evening.
The lifeless bodies of some victims were found several kilometers downstream from the place of their disappearance.
“Heavy rain fell between 5 a.m. (7 a.m. Eastern time) and 7 a.m.,” Juan Ignacio Arroyo Verastegui, local civil protection director, said earlier.
The El Cangrejo River has burst its banks, overflowing over homes in the municipality of Autlan, where some 60,000 people live.
Rainfall was particularly heavy over the San Juan Cacoma mountain range, causing the waters of El Cangrejo to rapidly swell.
According to Mr. Verastegui, deforestation and a fire that occurred last June in this forested mountainous area could have contributed to the accumulation of rainwater.
Around a hundred rescuers are searching for the missing people.