The US coast guard continued to search for a four-masted schooner missing since Tuesday off the Honduran coast. The antome, a windjammer barefoot cruises yacht once owned by Aristotle Onassis, had 31 people aboard.

The Presidents of Honduras and Nicaragua declared states of emergency as the storm drove into the heart of Honduras, spreading heavy rains over virtually all of the country.

Almost all the roads are destroyed...Everything is tragedy in Honduras,'' said Col. Anael Perez, spokesman for the permanent emergency committee.As the storm centre neared the capital, Tegucigalpa, the rising Rio Grande threatened to tear down the four bridges connecting the city to its suburb of Comayaguela. The capital's airport had been closed.

The US national hurricane centre said atmidnight GMT yesterday, the storm was centred about 55 kms north-northeast of Tegucigalpa. It was heading west-southwest at nine kph. Maximum sustained winds were near 85 kph, down from 290 kph early on Tuesday. The once-fierce hurricane, reduced to a mild tropical storm, continued to dump water on already flooded towns and farmland. In some areas, as much as two feet (60 cms) of rain fell within six hours, and the national weather service said some areas could expect up to two feet more.

The waters sparked mudslides that cut off the highway between Tegucigalpa, and the country's second-biggest city, San Pedro Sula. In the southern city of Choluteca, a mudslide buried a family of six on Thursday, the Red Cross said yesterday.

In all, 56 deaths were confirmed in Honduras, including 14 on the Bay Islands that house many popular diving resorts. Fifty people were missing in the city of Comayagua in central Honduras after the Salistroso river swept away 150 houses.

Juan Padilla, police chief of coastalSanta Rosa De Aguan, yesterday reported 27 people had died in the town because of flooding. In addition, one prisoner was shot to death and two were wounded when they tried to escape during the evacuation of Tegucigalpa's central penitentiary.

The building was starting to collapse in the floodwaters, and the three men broke through a wall. The death was not included in the official count. In Nicaragua, the official death toll climbed fast as reports came in from areas cut off by the floods. The national emergency committee said 70 people had died and 117 were missing.