Hurricane Dean's death toll rises with new deaths in Mexico

PUEBLA (AFP) - A couple and their two children were killed in central Mexico yesterday by a landslide caused by driving rains blamed on the remnants of hurricane Dean, raising to at least 25 the death toll from the storm's rampage.

The four were killed when a chunk of mountainside buried the path on which they were walking in Xochitlaxco, according to Puebla state Governor Mario Marin.

He warned that further mudslides were likely in the area, mainly populated by impoverished indigenous communities.

Another two people died in central Mexico when a landslide buried their house during the night, and one person was killed when his home caved in on him. On Wednesday, Dean, now a tropical depression, was blamed for the death of a man electrocuted while repairing his roof.

Once a powerful hurricane, Dean slowed after hitting land but continued to dump huge amounts of rain over Mexico yesterday.

Before pounding Mexico, the hurricane had killed at least nine people in Haiti, four in Jamaica, two in the Dominican Republic and two in Martinique.