Hurricane Ida kills 124 in El Salvador

Hurricane Ida has killed at least 124 people and left 60 others missing across El Salvador, civil defense officials say.

Flooding and landslides claimed the lives of 124 people across the country, officials said.

The army, police and residents have been looking for 60 people missing in Verapaz, a small central city which was partly buried under mud and boulders following torrential rains on Sunday before dawn.

Torrential rains and flooding hit the country due to "low pressure ... and remnants of Ida," Civil Defense Chief Jorge Melendez said.

Melendez added that "there could be more fatalities" in the eastern regions of Verapaz and Tepetitan.

Ida had strengthened packing top wind speeds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour as it moved over Mexico's Caribbean coast according to forecasters at the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Ida has now swept past the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico.

El Salvador has been on a state of alert since Thursday.