Hailstorm kills 7 in Bolivian village graduation celebration

ACHACACHI, Bolivia (AP) — Seven people attending a school graduation ceremony were killed when a roof fell during an intense hailstorm in Santiago de Pacharia, a small rural community in the high plains of Bolivia, local officials said Monday.

Two more bodies were pulled from the wreckage and accumulated hailstones, hours after five bodies were found initially, according to Adelio Velásquez, an official with the mayor’s office in the district of Achacachi, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northeast of La Paz.

The Andean region has suffered a severe drought, but this weekend much of Bolivia experienced heavy rain, which often falls as hail in higher altitudes.