Tropical Storm Keith traps 30 tourists near Belize

Hurricane Keith was downgraded to a tropical storm late Monday after soaking the Caribbean nation of Belize with 22 inches of rain

BELIZE CITY (Reuters) -- Thirty tourists trapped on a Belize cay battered by Tropical Storm Keith -- all but two of them U.S. citizens -- have radioed in to the tiny Central American nation's government that they are safe and well, a top official said late Monday.

"They wanted to communicate with the rest of country that they were all right and that no-one had been injured," Senior Information Officer Patrick Jones said.

A large number of international tourists are known to be holed up in hotels and shelters in Belize's upscale San Pedro beach resort on Ambergris Cay, which hangs down on a peninsula from Mexico.

A smaller number were stuck on nearby Cay Caulker, a tiny island farther south that is popular with lower-budget travelers.

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The San Pedro tourists contacted authorities over a local flight company's radio, according to Jones, who said authorities did not know the nationalities of the two non-U.S. citizens.

Jones said Keith -- a hurricane until late Monday when it was downgraded to a tropical storm -- had caused no injuries or deaths anywhere in Belize. But he said San Pedro and Cay Caulker, the country's two most popular tourist destinations, were still without phones and remained under siege from strong winds and rain.

"A lot of the structures (on Ambergris Cay) have been torn off. There's a lot of beach erosion," he said. "The hurricane continues to pound it."

The former British colony, many of whose 250,000 inhabitants live in wooden houses raised on wooden stilts over flood-prone coastal land, remains under a state of emergency.

Cases of looting had earlier been reported in Belize City, the main town and former capital with some 70,000 inhabitants, half of which was still without electricity, Jones said.

Fifteen local residents have been sworn in as special constables to prevent looting on Ambergris Cay, he said.

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Keith downgraded to tropical storm

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