A man tries to rescue his belongings after the collapse of his house due to the rains caused by tropical storm Eta, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on November 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Rafael Ochoa)
The Second Lieutenant of the Fire Department, Carlos Oliva, said four people died in a mudslide, including a mother and her two children, in the Fortaleza district of Tela, a town in the northern department of Atlantida, and a minor drowned in the village of Paujiles.
TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people have died in Honduras due to tropical storm Eta, currently lashing the central region of the Central American country with heavy rains and wind gusts of 45 kilometers per hour, local authorities said on Thursday.
The Second Lieutenant of the Fire Department, Carlos Oliva, said four people died in a mudslide, including a mother and her two children, in the Fortaleza district of Tela, a town in the northern department of Atlantida, and a minor drowned in the village of Paujiles.
On Wednesday, a girl drowned in Nueva Frontera, in the northwest department of Santa Barbara, and a 37-year-old man drowned in San Manuel, in western Lempira department.
The first fatality of the storm was reported on Tuesday, when a 12-year-old girl died in a landslide in the northern city of San Pedro Sula.
At least 437 houses have been damaged or destroyed, and 26 roads damaged, while 31 communities have been cut off by flooding, the Permanent Contingency Commission (Copeco) said Wednesday night.
The government maintains a state of national emergency and red alert as Eta is forecast to pass through the central departments of Francisco Morazan and Comayagua, before hitting the western department of Santa Barbara.
Around 100,000 people have been left without electricity, and four international airports have been closed.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez described the effects of the storm as "shocking." ■
