Sep 8, 11:39 PM EDT
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Heavy Rains/Landslides Kill 14 in Mexico*

By LISA J. ADAMS
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A landslide buried buses and cars on a highway in
the central state of Puebla and killed at least four travelers Thursday,
a day after a separate avalanche left 10 villagers dead in northern Mexico.

The Puebla landslide occurred on a highway between Mexico City and the
city of Tuxpan in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, covering with dirt
and mud two tractor-trailers, two passenger buses, three public
passenger vans and a car, Puebla state official Ismael Rios told Radio
Formato 21. Four people died and at least 11 were injured, Puebla's
interior secretary, Javier Lopez Avala, later told a news conference
that was broadcast live on the radio.

Dozens of rescuers and soldiers equipped with sniffer dogs tried to dig
the vehicles out of the mud Thursday night. It was not clear if they
expected to find more victims, or exactly what caused the landslide.

Lopez Avala said workers had been using heavy machinery on the site
recently to extract gravel, which weakened the hillside that collapsed.
Heavy rains have pounded that part of the country in recent weeks as well.

A landslide Wednesday that authorities said was triggered by heavy rains
killed 10 people, mostly children, and injured three others when five
homes were buried by mud in the remote indigenous village of
Chalchihuitillo, 450 miles northwest of Mexico City, Serenia Moreno, a
spokeswoman for local authorities said by telephone.

Five members of one family - including a man, his wife and three
children, ages 5 to 9 - were killed after an avalanche of mud and rocks
buried their home. Five children, ages 5 months to 7 years, were killed
in the other four homes, the spokeswoman said.

Moreno said authorities didn't know how many people were in the homes
and rescue crews were still digging through the mud in search of other
possible victims.

The homes, in Durango state, were at the foot of a mountain that gave
way after strong rain storms.

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Associated Press Writer Olga R. Rodriguez contributed to this report
from Monterrey.