Guatemala landslide kills nine

Guatemala City: A landslide triggered by torrential rain killed at least nine people in a poor shantytown on the outskirts of the Guatemalan capital, authorities said Wednesday.

The tragedy hit Tuesday night in Villa Nueva, just south of Guatemala City.

The landslide was exacerbated when a truck pitched off a nearby road and plowed into a group of houses, said David de Leon, a spokesman for the national disaster management office.

"The landslide claimed nine lives. One person is in the hospital, another is missing and 45 people were affected," he told AFP.

Firefighters said the missing person was a child.

Nine homes were damaged in all.

The Central American country´s rainy season, which lasts from May to November, causes deadly disasters nearly every year.

Last year at least 290 people died in all, mostly in a huge landslide that nearly swallowed an entire neighborhood on the capital´s east side.

So far this rainy season, 11 people have died and more than 2,500 have been evacuated.