Costa Rica landslide kills 20

A landslide caused by heavy rain killed 20 people in Costa Rica on Thursday as President Laura Chinchilla considered declaring a national emergency to help the coffee-growing nation deal with widespread flooding.

The National Emergency Commission said 15 people remained missing after rains overnight loosened a swathe of Cerro Pico Blanco, a mountain popular with hikers and rock climbers, causing the mudslide that buried poorly constructed houses.

Chinchilla told a conference earlier on Thursday the disaster was one of the worst the Central American nation had confronted. "It has been a great national tragedy," she said.

Rescuers searched for survivors in San Antonio de Escazu, where shanty homes are mixed in with stately dwellings belonging to foreigners drawn to its trails and wooded areas.

Over 1,300 people in the capital and along Costa Rica's Pacific coast were moved to shelters to flee the flooding prompted by rains pelting the country this week.

Local media said the rains also damaged a dam in Parrita, close to the Pacific coast, but engineers had trouble reaching the area because of road damage and bad weather.

Presidency minister Marco Vargas said the government might declare a national emergency, which would provide Costa Rica access to funds from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank to help rebuild roads, bridges and homes.

Chinchilla has requested neighboring countries help Costa Rican authorities reach remote areas grappling with flooding. She said intense rain was likely to continue.

National Emergency Commission President Vanessa Rosales said the rains may have had damaged several major coffee areas in Costa Rica's highlands. No official figures were available.

Ronald Peters, head of national coffee organization Icafe, said weeks of intense rain had hurt roads leading to coffee fields and could delay the harvest in some regions.

"It is a very concerning situation," he said.

Just last month, Icafe cut its forecast for the 201011 Costa Rica coffee harvest forecast by 3.5%, citing an unusually harsh rainy season.

Damp weather has fostered the rapid expansion of the "Ojo de Gallo" fungus, or Mycena citricolor, which grows on coffee leaves and causes them to fall, exposing the cherries to wind and rain that can make them rot.