GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Rescuers had recovered 21 bodies by Sunday from a mudslide that hit the Pan-American Highway near Guatemala City, Guatemala, raising the death toll in the wake of heavy rains in the Central American nation to at least 42.

According to eyewitness reports, numerous other people had been buried in the highway mudslide. Emergency workers searching for survivors also were submerged by new mudslides, local media reported.

Fifteen people were killed in one mudslide alone on the Pan-American Highway.

Rescuers searching for survivors also had to contend with new mudslides, according to the media reports.

Officials said the Pan-American Highway is no longer drivable, as it has been blocked by mudslides in several areas.

At least 24,000 people have reportedly been evacuated. Rains, floods and mudslides have affected 30,000 people in different regions of the country, with 10 rivers threatening to overflow.

The heavy rains have also led to floods in neighboring Central American countries and in the south of Mexico, killing dozens of people over the last few days. Forty people had been reported dead in Nicaragua by the weekend and 20 in Honduras.