PANAMA CITY, Panama - Heavy rains and flooding in Panama have left at least eight people dead and damaged hundreds of homes, the government said Friday.
The rains, which began Monday and were predicted to last until Saturday, have caused rivers to overflow and bridges to collapse, cutting off several communities northwest of the capital of Panama City, authorities said.
The dead included two men killed in a landslide, two men who drowned, a couple killed when a tree fell on their house, and a pregnant woman who suffered a spike in her blood pressure but failed to receive medical attention because her community had been cut off, said National Civil Protection Director Roberto Velasquez.
The eighth fatality occurred in the community of Capira, 50 miles west of the capital, Velasquez said. He did not release any details.
A search was also under way for a park guard reported missing in the Colon province, the federal Environment Department said.
On Friday, officials sent first aid, bottled water, dry goods and other domestic items by helicopter to the Cocle, Colon, and Panama provinces, Interior Minister Ileana Golcher said.
More than 200 houses have been destroyed and nearly 700 others damaged, the Civil Protection Department said.
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