Mud and boulders loosened by days of heavy rain swept down a volcano and partly buried a small town, swallowing up homes as flooding and landslides across El Salvador killed at least 124 people.

Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the US this year, is closing in on the country’s south east, with Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal having already declared a state of emergency.

EL SALVADOR’S interior minister said the death toll is now 91 from floods and landslides touched off by three days of heavy rains.

Forty people have died in El Salvador following three days of heavy rains, Interior Minister Humberto Centeno said today.