Strom Claims 4 Lives in Argentina, The death toll from a storm that battered the western Argentine province of Mendoza has risen to four, authorities said.
The head of emergency services in Mendoza, Aldo Sarmiento, told reporters that the latest fatality was an 11-year-old boy who was killed when a rain-driven mudslide sent boulders crashing into the car in which he was traveling with his parents.
A 58-year-old woman and her granddaughter died Thursday when a rapidly swelling river burst its banks, and a man of 73 is missing and feared dead in the same locale. Officials in the city of San Rafael were forced to evacuate some 400 people amid heavy rain, hail and winds that reached 84 kph (52 mph).
The storm downed trees and power lines and destroyed wide swathes of vineyards on the outskirts of the city, which lies in a major wine-producing region.