Central America: Hurricane Stan kills 59

Hurricane Stan slammed into Mexico's Gulf coast before quickly weakening to a tropical storm, forcing authorities to close one of the nation's busiest ports, and unleashing rains in Central America and Mexico that have killed at least 59 people.

The storm, which whipped up 130 kmph winds, came ashore along a sparsely populated stretch of coastline south of Veracruz, a busy port 295 km east of Mexico City, on Tuesday.

• 'Guardian angels were looking after us'

The storm's outer bands swiped the city, knocking down trees and flooding low-lying neighborhoods, authorities said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

All three of Mexico's Gulf coast crude-oil loading ports were closed Tuesday as a precaution, but the shutdowns hadn't affected their production, authorities said.

Shortly after Stan touched land about midday, the storm's winds dropped to about 104 kmph, although heavy rains remained a threat, the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said. It was moving toward the southwest at about 15 kmph and was expected to continue weakening rapidly.

Tropical storm winds extended outward up to 165 km from Stan's centre.

Forecasters said the storm was driving rain across Central America and southern Mexico, resulting in flooding and landslides.