2 teens are killed when a bedroom wall collapses after heavy rains on an island in El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Two teenagers were killed by a landslide during heavy rains early on Monday, when their bedroom wall collapsed on an island in El Salvador, authorities said.
The landslide took place on the Meanguera del Golfo island in the Gulf of Fonseca. The deaths were confirmed by the Defense Ministry and President Nayib Bukele's office.
El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua border the Gulf of Fonseca along the Pacific coast.
The municipality, La Union Sur, reported walls collapsing in other homes on the island as well. Mayor Victoria Gutiérrez Salmeron said the victims were 13 years and 17 years old.
Intense rains went on for hours, resulting "in the detachment of rocks that provoked the collapse of this wall,” Gutiérrez said of the deaths of the two teens.
A government rain gauge had registered nearly 3 inches (68 millimeters) of accumulated rain by Monday morning. La Union Sur is about 105 miles (172 kilometers) east of the country's capital, San Salvador.
The combination of a tropical wave over Central America and low wind has combined for heavy rains in the area in recent days.