Guatemala City ? Rescue workers in Guatemala pulled at least 40 bodies from a massive mudslide and found 20 more dead in a swollen river Thursday, officials said, raising to at least 236 the number of people killed from five days of pounding rains in Central America and Mexico.

Officials expected the death toll to climb as they searched for more than 150 others who were missing after the landslide in Solola, a town close to Lake Atitlan, 60 miles west of the capital, Guatemala City.

Along the country’s Pacific coast, the Nahualate River broke from its banks, creating a new outlet to the sea and killing at least 20 people from a small, seaside village, navy officials said.

The recovery of the bodies pushed the number killed in the region to 231, including 14 victims earlier this week in Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica, and 13 victims who died in three Mexican states.

The current death toll in Guatemala is 139, with the majority of the victims killed in landslides. At least 65 died in El Salvador.

For the first time since the weekend, the weather cleared Thursday and allowed Guatemala President Oscar Berger to fly over devastated areas and evaluate damage.

A man crosses the destroyed Dr. Rodolfo Robles Bridge that connects Mexico and Guatemala on Thursday in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico.

He asked Congress to declare a state of emergency as rescue workers in Solola reported that two other villages had been buried by landslides, including Las Giraldas, 55 miles west of Guatemala City. There, more than a dozen people were working to dig out houses buried when a second hillside collapsed.

In El Salvador, where the heavy rains have left 65 dead, rescuers also stepped up aid flights and flyovers as the sun emerged from behind the clouds.

Authorities also were on alert for new landslides and flooded rivers similar to those that already had closed or destroyed dozens of highways and bridges. Officials said nearly 54,000 people had been evacuated to 370 shelters throughout the country, while nearly 80 percent of the country’s roadways had been affected by the rains.

“The rain stopped, rays of sun have begun to warm the country, but the danger continues,” said Salvadoran Red Cross spokesman Carlos Lopez Mendoza.

The Mexican Air Force on Thursday was preparing to deliver 220 tons of food and 33 tons of emergency supplies to El Salvador.

In addition, Mexican President Vicente Fox said two planes loaded with 40 tons of aid would fly out Thursday to southern areas of Mexico.

The United States said it was donating $100,000 in household items to Mexico and would also offer humanitarian aid to the Central American countries. Mexican troops recently returned from several weeks of helping U.S. officials clean up after Hurricane Katrina.

“To be united, to be friendly, pays and pays well,” Fox said.