国际英语新闻：Death toll in storm Agatha in Guatemala rises to 73

GUATEMALA CITY, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The death toll caused by storm Agatha in Guatemala has risen to 73, the country's disaster relief authority spokesman David de Leon said on Sunday.

Rescuers reported deaths in several provinces, including 13 people who were killed in the town of San Andres Palopo when a landslide buried 13 houses. Seven others were missing, officials said.

The Volunteer Firemen said there were five deaths and eight others missing in northern Guatemala City, where a landslide crushed houses on Saturday night. More deaths were feared.

Two men watch heavy swell on May 29, 2010, in San Jose port, Escuintla, south of Guatemala City. The season's first tropical storm Agatha has killed 73 people in Guatemala, as drenching rain, mudslides and floods forced 3,000 to flee their homes, officials said.

Agatha, the first named storm of the current Pacific hurricane season, brought heavy rains and landslides in Guatemala and affected El Salvador and Honduras, prompting all three countries to declare emergencies.

Deaths were also reported in El Salvador and Honduras.

Agatha made landfall in Guatemala with winds of about 70 km per hour on Saturday before quickly weakening to become a tropical depression.