A baby is the first fatality from Hurricane Erika in southern Mexico.

A one-year-and-two-month-old baby has died after his mother and he were swept away by a river in the municipality of San Marcos, on the Costa Chica of Guerrero, in southern Mexico, as they attempted to cross it during the rains caused by Hurricane Erika.

Municipal authorities confirmed that the accident occurred at 3:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. GMT) on Thursday, when the mother attempted to cross the river with the child in her arms, but due to the flooding and the current, they were swept away. Neighbors requested assistance from the police and Municipal Civil Protection personnel.

The mother was rescued meters later, while the minor was rescued minutes later, but no longer showing vital signs.

This is the first victim of the hurricane, but it adds to another in Oaxaca: a man who died from electrocution while helping with debris removal tasks but handled high-voltage cables near a stream in the municipality of San Pedro Pochutla.

According to the latest report from the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), the storm weakened overnight to a low -pressure system located 155 kilometers from the port of Acapulco , with sustained winds of 45 km/h.

Erick hit the coast of Oaxaca, near the border with Guerrero, early Thursday morning as a hurricane of magnitude 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale (out of 5). Shortly before making landfall, it reached magnitude 4.

Coastal communities like Lagunas de Chacahua, in Oaxaca, with a population of about 2,800, were directly affected by the storm, which destroyed the thatched roofs of numerous homes and businesses and left streets flooded, AFP found.

"It was very strong, very ugly (...) the whole town is homeless , without clothes, we have no help," Francisca Ávila, a 45-year-old housewife, told AFP as she lamented the loss of most of her household belongings.

The storm entered a sparsely populated area and penetrated a mountain range, but it has unleashed heavy rainfall. Mexican authorities maintain an alert for potential landslides and flooding.

President Claudia Sheinbaum reported in her morning press conference that heavy rains are still expected in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas (southern), as well as Veracruz (eastern) and Puebla (central). She also thanked the population for following the authorities' recommendations "very responsibly," in a message posted on her social media.