Rescuers search for missing people in towns across five states

Rescue workers in Mexico are searching for at least 65 people missing after heavy rains caused flooding in 150 locations in five states.

At least 64 people were confirmed dead, according to official figures updated by the government on Monday.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised to provide assistance to the affected areas.

Heavy rains from two tropical storms caused landslides and overflowed rivers, sweeping away entire homes as well as roads and cars.

Maria Salas, 49, lost five members of her family when their house collapsed in Huachinango, a town in the mountains north of Puebla state.

She told Agence France-Presse news agency that her home was swept away by a landslide: “I can’t get my belongings, I can’t sleep there. I don’t have anything.”

The city is one of the few accessible cities within the disaster zone.

On Sunday, President Sheinbaum visited a shelter in Huachinango and said officials would examine the damage to the town.

“Everyone will get help to rebuild their homes,” she told those whose homes were swept away or uninhabitable.

An estimated 100 small communities remain isolated by floods that have damaged power supplies and communications lines.