Tropical storm takes aim at Mexico's Baja peninsula

MEXICO CITY, Sep 3 (Reuters) Tropical Storm Henriette, which killed six people on Mexico's Pacific coast, headed for the Baja California peninsula and was likely to strengthen to a hurricane before hitting land.

The storm dumped heavy rain on the resort of Acapulco on Saturday, dislodging a boulder that crushed a man and his two children and triggering a mudslide that killed three others.

Henriette, carrying top sustained winds of almost 112 kph, was forecast to pass near the Los Cabos beach resort on Tuesday before striking a sparsely populated desert area, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Los Cabos, at the tip on the peninsula, is a major golfing and sports fishing center popular with U.S. tourists.

A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when maximum sustained winds reach 119 kph.

In the Caribbean, Hurricane Felix grew rapidly to become an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm yesterday as it swept toward Central America and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Felix was due to pass Honduras and strike Belize on Wednesday before moving into southeastern Mexico.

Reuters BJR VP0722