Guatemala quake deaths now 52, expected to rise

SAN MARCOS, Guatemala (AP) - The number of dead from Guatemala's worst earthquake since 1976 has risen to 52. And the country's president says many of the 22 people still missing are also believed to be dead.

President Otto Perez Molina says the quake affected as many as 1.2 million people as it shook nearly the entire country.

He says there were 70 aftershocks in the first 24 hours after the quake, which hit yesterday morning off the country's Pacific coast.

Perez says people in the area hit by the quake were left without drinking water, electricity and communication.

Fears of aftershocks prompted Guatemalans to huddle in the streets of the mountain town of San Marcos, the most heavily affected area, where at least 40 people died. Others crowded inside its hospital, the only building left with electricity.

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