Killer rains leave at least 34 dead in Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Aug 27, AFP Floods and landslides have killed at least 34 dead and affected some 84,000 people in Nicaragua this rainy season, which began on May 15, officials said Friday.

Of those killed, 23 died in August, Army Colonel Nestor Solis told local media.

This week alone has seen eight people killed so far by torrential rains, including a four-year-old girl crushed by a tree in the northern department of Jinotega.

More than 870 families have been evacuated to temporary shelters due to the flooding, which has hit the southwestern departments of Masaya and Granada, the northern departments of Jinotega and Nueva Segovia and the central department of Boaco particularly hard.

Some 500 homes were partially damaged by floods and overflowing rivers and landslides in the hills of San Luis and San Jose de Bocay in Jinotega damaged several pastures as well as coffee and banana crops.The Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said rains have damaged about 8,000 kilometers (4,970 miles), mostly along its Pacific coast.