2 teenagers die when bedroom wall collapses after heavy rains on an island in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Two teenagers were killed by a landslide early Monday during heavy rains when the wall of their bedroom collapsed on an island in El Salvador, authorities said.

The landslide occurred on the island of Meanguera del Golfo in the Gulf of Fonseca. The fatalities were confirmed by the Ministry of Defense and the office of President Nayib Bukele.

El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua border the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific coast.

The municipality of La Union Sur reported that walls also collapsed in other houses on the island. Mayor Victoria Gutiérrez Salmeron said the victims were 13 and 17 years old.

Heavy rains continued for hours, “leading to the detachment of rocks that caused the wall to collapse,” Gutiérrez said of the deaths of the two teenagers.

A government rain gauge had measured a rainfall of almost 68 millimeters by Monday morning. La Union Sur is located about 172 kilometers east of the state capital San Salvador.

The combination of a tropical wave over Central America and weak winds has led to heavy rainfall in the region in recent days.