GUATEMALA CITY A woman and a baby died and eight people are missing after a mudslide in an indigenous area just north of Guatemala City, Guatemala's disaster response agency said Thursday.

The mudslide happened late Wednesday in the town of Tamahu, in the northern Alta Verapaz region, a spokesman for the CONRED agency told reporters.

It had been triggered by heavy rains and a swollen river.

Police, soldiers, firemen and volunteers were searching for the eight missing people, who are feared to be buried under tons of mud, the spokesman said.

Two hundred people and 25 homes were affected by the mudslide, and authorities opened a shelter to house them.

Guatemala is experiencing its rainy season, which runs from April to November. The heavy precipitation has caused flooding and mudslides that so far have claimed 21 lives, affected 213,000 people and damaged or destroyed bridges and thousands of homes. — AFP