Mudslide kills at least 31 in Mexico

A bus carrying up to 60 passengers in Mexico has been hit by a mudslide, killing at least 31 people.

Heavy rain in the region led to the mudslide on a remote road near the mountain town of Eloxochitlan, in the southern state of Puebla.

Rescuers are using bulldozers and other heavy machinery, as well as pickaxes and shovels, to claw away boulders, dirt and trees to reach the bus.

The vehicle is buried under 23 feet of mud after the hillside collapsed.

Local government spokesman Javier Lopez said: "We don't expect to find anyone alive."

The corpses of at least four children were pulled out as emergency workers dug up crumpled chunks of the bus.

Villagers heard the landslide but only realised what had happened when the bus failed to arrive.

Coffee grower Benito Cortes said: "We got down there and it was all covered up and we realised something had happened because the bus never arrived."

Rescuers are being hampered by the flattened condition of the bus and concerns that more of the sodden hillside could give way.

The start of the rainy season in Mexico has brought driving rain to many parts of the country, saturating hillsides that are home to poor farming communities.

Emergency services said more heavy rain is likely and warned locals to be on alert for floods and swollen rivers.

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