Death toll in Guatemalan earthquake rises to 52

GUATEMALA CITY, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina on Thursday confirmed that the death toll of the 7.4- magnitude earthquake rose to 52, 22 people remain missing, and 1.2 million others were affected.

"The number of people (dead) is rising, officially we have 52 dead, 22 missing, and rescue workers are searching the rubble," Molina told a press conference at the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conrad).

The president also declared three days of national mourning for the quake victims.

According to the president, 70 aftershocks have been recorded in the last 24 hours, and data from the Institute of Seismology showed that the earthquake have not released all the energy so more aftershocks are expected in the coming hours.

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