Heavy Rains Leave 11 Dead In Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – A week of heavy rains in Honduras has caused landslides and flooding that have killed at least 11 people and left two others missing, officials said Monday.

A landslide before dawn Monday buried a home in the capital, Tegucigalpa, killing two adults and three children, said the head of Honduras' firefighters, Carlos Cordero.

Also killed were a man and child who drowned trying to cross a rain-swollen river in northern Honduras. Officials didn't give details on the other deaths.

Flooding has forced evacuations, claimed crops and cut off communities across Honduras, and emergency officials say things could get worse as rains continue.

Two large landslides have blocked the Coyol River in western Honduras, forming a lake 150 meters (nearly 500 feet) deep at some points and threatening towns downstream.

Authorities are carefully removing the accidental dike so that the lake can slowly drain, but they warn that the process is slow-going.

U.S. soldiers stationed in Honduras have plucked dozens of people off the roofs of their homes in flooded communities. The flooding has also killed many pets and livestock.

President Manuel Zelaya appeared on television and radio late Sunday and urged residents in areas at risk to "immediately evacuate homes so that lives can be saved."