Four members of a family missing in Oaxaca are believed to have been trapped in a landslide in the state’s Sierra Norte region.

State Civil Protection services said that due to heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Vicente, two families set out on foot Monday from the town of San Juan Metaltepec with the intention of reaching Tamazulápam del Espíritu Santo.

However, only one family arrived, where they alerted authorities about the missing family.

Authorities believe that 38-year-old Miguel López, his 39-year-old wife Lorenza Blas and their two daughters, aged 15 and eight, could be trapped in a landslide that occurred on the Yacochi-Metaltepec federal highway.

Civil Protection officials said yesterday that they were preparing to send personnel to search for the missing family and to provide assistance to other people in the region affected by recent heavy rain and landslides.

Metaltepec residents told the newspaper El Universal that at least 25 landslides have occurred on the highway between Santa Maria Yacochi and Santiago Zacatepec in recent days, cutting off towns in the Sierra Mixe district.

One local said that supplies are running short in Metaltepec and other nearby towns. At least 10 communities in the area have been cut off.

Heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Vicente caused flash flooding and mudslides that claimed the lives of 12 people over the past four days.

State authorities have asked the federal Secretary of the Interior to declare a state of emergency in 167 of 570 Oaxaca municipalities.

Source: El Universal (sp), NVI Noticias (sp)