Bolivian rainstorm claims 69 lives

A group of Bolivian firefighters work to clear rumble from a house destroyed by a storm that caused flash flooding and killed 69 people.

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- Bulldozers cleared mud from the streets, and rescue workers on pulled more bodies from swollen rivers around Bolivia's capital, bringing the death toll from powerful rainstorms to 69 people.

Mayor Juan del Granado said Thursday that another 150 people were injured and 122 families who lost their homes were sheltered at the city's main soccer stadium. He put the damage at $60 million.

Among the latest bodies to be found were those of a retired army colonel and a policewoman who both drowned trying to rescue others, police said.

The storm on Tuesday was the most powerful in the capital's history, collapsing scores of homes and cutting electricity under a torrent of rain and hail that quickly flooded La Paz, which is located at the lowest point of a natural bowl surrounded by the Andes mountains.

Development Minister Ramiro Cavero said almost a gallon of water per square foot fell on the city in less than an hour Tuesday.

Many of the dead were vendors who ran to street underpasses where they drowned in flash flooding.

"So many people were screaming for help," said Raquel Lauri, a 15-year-old working nearby at her mother's outdoor cosmetics stand.

"But anyone who went out to do something was immediately swept away."

Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga declared a state of emergency in La Paz on Wednesday. Quiroga, who donated blood, promised financial support for victims, but also appealed for foreign aid to help with reconstruction.

Authorities said the United Nations offered to coordinate reconstruction works.

The National Meteorological Service said the city has not had such an intense rain in the 50 years it has kept records.

"This street always floods a little in heavy rains, so right away we closed the metal entranceway to our shop," said Viviana Lima, 20, who works in an underground gallery. "But the water crashed in through another door, and the room began filling up with water."

She said the water kept rising and she thought she would die, but a man in the room forced open the door, and everyone ran to the next level of shops.

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