GUATEMALA HAS DECLARED TODAY a day of morning in memory of the  victims of the weekend’s multiple landslides, reports Al Jazeera.

The government has called a state of emergency after several landslides over the weekend blocked access to several villages and killed at least 38 people.

Mud engulfed a busy highway northwest of Guatemala city, burying a bus and killing at least 12 people. A second landslide struck as a crowd attempted to dig people out.

Rescuers have pulled 20 bodies out and at least 60 are believed to be missing.

President Alvaro Colom visited the site yesterday, saying it was a “national tragedy” and comparing the scale of the disaster comparable to a tropical storm last May which killed over 160 Guatemalans, according to AFP.

The road has been closed for fear of further subsidence. This AP report shows the site of the road disaster:

Reuters reports that it may take another two days to dig out all the victims of the highway landslides.

Around 40,000 people are believed to be affected by flooding in Guatemala, and thousands have been forced to leave their homes in southern Mexico. Euronews reports that record rainfalls have struck the region this year.

50% of Guatemala’s workforce is engage in agriculture, and more than half of the country lives below the poverty line, according to the CIA.