Rescue workers using shovels and pickaxes recovered more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed hillside on the outskirts of Guatemala City as the death toll rose to 69, with another 350 people believed missing.

A long-simmering volcano exploded with a series of powerful eruptions outside one of Guatemala’s most famous tourist attractions, hurling thick clouds of ash nearly two miles high, spewing rivers of lava and sparking evacuation orders for more than 33,000 people.

Tropical Storm Matthew weakened to a tropical depression over the weekend along the coast of Belize, dousing the southern part of the Central American nation and neighbouring Guatemala with rain that caused flooding in coastal areas.

At least 22 people died and scores more were missing after mudslides engulfed parts of a Guatemalan motorway.