At least 34 people were killed when a river in southeastern Bolivia burst its banks, sweeping away a passenger bus and a truck, authorities said Sunday.
Bodies have been washing up on the banks of the Mollepunku River since the incident late Friday near the town of Pampahuasi, 700 kilometers (435 miles) southeast of the Andean nation's capital La Paz, police said.
The passenger bus had been carrying 39 people, and regional police commander Iver Marquez said the truck was carrying two people at the time of the accident, indicating the final death toll may rise.
Firefighters were on the scene recovering bodies and locating any survivors, Marquez said.
earlier related report
Ten dead, three missing in Jeddah floods: Saudi
Riyadh (AFP) Jan 28, 2011 –
Ten people have been killed and three others gone missing in three days of flooding due to heavy rains in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's civil defence chief said on Friday.
Since the floods began on Wednesday, "the death toll has risen to 10 and three people are still missing," said Saad al-Tuwaijri, quoted by the state news agency SPA.
Emergency services mounted a major rescue operation in Jeddah on Wednesday as water levels rose rapidly in Saudi Arabia's commercial capital where flooding killed 123 people in 2009.
After the November 2009 floods in Jeddah, the king sought legal action against officials and contractors for alleged corruption, mismanagement of real estate and land planning that exacerbated the floods.
The inability of Jeddah's infrastructure to drain the waters and uncontrolled construction in and around the city were blamed for the high number of victims.
Thousands of families lost their homes as 10,785 buildings were destroyed, a survey found.
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