Nicaragua rains: Downpours leave 22 dead

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Nicaraguan Army personnel carry belongings from residents displaced by heavy rains, which caused flooding and landslides in the capital Managua Oct 18 2014Image source, Reuters
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Nicaraguan Army personnel carry belongings from residents displaced by heavy rains, which caused flooding and landslides in the capital Managua

Twenty-two people have died in Nicaragua during several days of heavy rains.

Nine of them were killed in the capital Managua when a wall collapsed during a torrential downpour.

In other areas of the city, emergency crews evacuated families from areas at risk from mudslides.

A government spokeswoman said they would join thousands of people housed in temporary shelters because of downpours since September.

The spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo, said the authorities had decided to evacuate all families who were considered to be living in critical areas of the city vulnerable to flooding and mudslides.

Image source, Reuters
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Relatives of flood victims during a funeral service in the town of San Isidro de la Cruz Verde
Image source, AP
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Rescuers workers search for bodies in Managua after a wall that separates the neighbourhood, 18 de Mayo, from another collapsed
Image source, AP
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People were forced to evacuate all their belongings after the government removed them to temporary shelters.

"We have to evacuate these people and use the police to guarantee that these spaces are not re-occupied," she said.

Correspondents say many poorer communities in Nicaragua do not like the places where the government takes them because they tend to be far from urban centres and from their workplaces, and they often return.

Over 30,000 people have been affected by the rains in Nicaragua.

El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have also been affected.