President Alvaro Colom of Guatemala has had to declare a state of emergency after fourteen people died on the weekend due to heavy rains which caused landslides.

Six people died on a bus and four inside a home when the latest rains triggered two deadly landslides.

One of the landslides swept away the bus on a road near central Chimaltenango city killing at least 10 people and injuring 20.

The other killed four people inside a house in western Quetzaltenango.

President Colom has said his top priority is to deal with recent storm damage across Guatemala, which has cost at least 500 million dollars.

Another 24 hours of heavy rain has been forecast throughout most of the country.