Rescue workers searched Tuesday for at least 16 people missing when a wall of mud and water swept over a village in flood-ravaged southern Mexico.
One resident of San Juan Grijalva, in the Chiapas state, said water and mud swept over the village of about 600 people in two waves, engulfing trees, houses and everything else in its path.
Chiapas Gov. Juan Sabines described one of the waves as a mini tsunami. "This village practically disappeared," he said.
Helicopters searched the surrounding hills to rescue residents who fled to higher ground. Chiapas officials and the federal Interior Department placed the number of missing people at 16. No bodies were immediately found.
'It Was Like a Roar'
Residents of San Juan Grijalva said they were awakened late Sunday by the sound of rocks rolling down from the surrounding mountains.
"It was a roar, like a helicopter was passing overhead," said farmer Domingo Sanchez, 21. "We didn't know what was happening and then we went outside, and there were cracks opening the earth. We ran up the hill ... but soil kept coming down on us."
Sanchez said he, his mother, his wife and a cousin spent hours fighting for their lives as the ground collapsed around them. He said they reached the hilltop just in time to look across the valley and see a landslide cover the home of his grandparents.
Sanchez said he thinks at least nine of his relatives were buried.
A cousin, David Sanchez, said the devastating mud and water came in two waves, the second apparently happening after debris from the first slide temporarily blocked the path of the oncoming mud and water.
"It swept away everything. Trees, houses, everything," David Sanchez said.
Federal Interior Secretary Francisco Ramirez Acuna said animals were responsible for saving some lives. A herd of cattle, sensing the impending landslide, began running uphill as if trying to escape. When people began to chase them, they unknowingly ran to safety, Ramirez told Mexico's Televisa television network.
Thousands Still Stranded by Floods
The landslide followed a week of devastating flooding and heavy rains that left 80 percent of the neighboring state of Tabasco underwater, destroying or damaging the homes of about half a million people.
Authorities said two more bodies were found Sunday in the waters covering much of the region. If the deaths are confirmed to have been caused by the flooding, the disaster's death toll would stand at 10, not including those feared dead from Monday's landslide.
On Monday, officials readied huge pumps to suck water from the inundated streets of Tabasco's capital, Villahermosa, while rescuers struggled to reach thousands still stranded days after one of the worst floods in Mexico's history.
U.S. President Bush called Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday to offer $300,000 in emergency assistance to Tabasco and Chiapas.
After Hurricane Katrina struck the United States in 2005, Mexico sent a convoy of about 200 unarmed soldiers and medical personnel across the border with portable kitchens and water treatment equipment to aid recovery efforts.
From NPR reports and The Associated Press
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