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.

Rescue workers in Guatemala say they have pulled at least 40 bodies from a massive mudslide and found 20 more dead in a swollen river, raising to 246 the number of people killed from five days of pounding rains in Central America and Mexico.