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Reuters


Watch: Hopes fade for Guatemala landslide missing
Rescue workers have been frantically digging through earth and rubble in search of survivors of a massive landslide in Guatemala that killed at least 86 people, as hopes began to fade for hundreds of others still missing.
Diggers plowed into the mounds of earth that destroyed homes in Santa Catarina Pinula on the southeastern flank of Guatemala City looking for about 350 people who authorities said were still unaccounted for after Thursday night’s disaster.
Loosened by rain, tons of earth, rock and trees cascaded onto part of the town from the hillside above, flattening houses and trapping residents who had gone home for the night.
"As the hours go by, we are losing hope," said Irving Vargas, 48, a local fireman helping the rescue effort. "We haven’t pulled anyone out alive in quite a while."

Clutching photos of loved ones, families of victims stood in line outside a makeshift morgue near the excavation site, some of them crying, to see if they recognised any corpses.
Ana Maria Escobar, a 48-year-old housewife, sobbed as she waited for news of 21 missing family members who lived in the town that she had left only a year ago.
"This is the worst thing that has happened to us," she said. "So far only my sister-in-law has been found."
At last count, the Attorney General’s office reported 86 dead via Twitter, though fears that hundreds more remain trapped threaten to make the landslide one of the worst natural disasters to hit Central America in recent years.

Among the dead were 17 children, and there were at least 26 people reported as injured.
Cleaning lady Mariselda Perez, 24, waited anxiously with her mother for news of her 17-year-old brother, a mechanic, who lived in Santa Catarina close to some uncles. "The uncles were able to get out and save themselves. (My brother’s) house was at the back and that’s why he couldn’t escape," she said.
Around 1,800 soldiers, firemen and neighbours helped with the rescue efforts, according to David de Leon, a spokesman for disaster agency Conred, who said some homes had been buried under about 15 meters of earth.
The search would continue for at least 72 hours after the disaster, but the likelihood of locating survivors after that was slim, he said.

Rescue workers moved about, calling for silence and yelling into the rubble whenever there was a hint of anyone trapped and still conscious beneath the earth. "We are the rescue teams. If there is someone alive, make noise," they yelled.
On Friday there were reports of family members receiving text messages of buried survivors asking to be rescued.
The tragedy has hit Guatemala after weeks of political turmoil, just as it prepares to elect a new president. Jimmy Morales, a former comic actor favoured to win a second round run-off on Oct. 25, arrived at the scene to survey the damage.
Last month, outgoing President Otto Perez was forced to stand down and was arrested on corruption charges.
In October 2005, heavy rainfall triggered a devastating landslide in Panabaj in the southwest of the Central American country, burying the village. Hundreds of people are believed to have died, and many of the bodies were never recovered.


‘We haven’t pulled anyone out alive in quite a while’: Hopes fade for hundreds missing in massive Guatemala landslide

A doll lays in the dirt where a landslide occurred in the village of El Cambray II. Among the confirmed dead were 17 children. Photo: Xinhua

Rescue workers recover a body after the landslide. Photo: EPA

Coffins are prepared for the victims. The death toll could reach into the hundreds.  Photo: AP

An aereal view of the devastation.  Photo: EPA

Mudslide in Colombia leaves 52 dead after heavy rains generate river of earth and debris

Inhabitants and rescue workers search through collapsed homes for survivors and dead bodies following the landslide at 3am in Salgar, 100km from Medellin. Photo: EPA

At least 66 missing as mountain landslide destroys homes in China's Shaanxi province

Rescue workers lead a survivor to safety. Many people were reportedly trapped under the rock and soil in the disaster and more than 700 rescuers have been deployed to search for them. Photo: Imaginechina

Rescuers clean the landslide site in Shanyang county, northwest China's Shaanxi province. Photo: Xinhua

A map showing the location of Wednesday morning's landslide, which has left 40 people missing in Shanyang, in China's Shaanxi province. Illustration: SCMP Graphics

53 killed in Philippines, 21 dead in Malaysia as storms trigger floods and landslides

A house is buried in a mudslide brought on by heavy rains from tropical storm Jangmi, locally called Seniang, in Tanuan town, Samar province. Photo: Reuters

‘No hope for survivors’ as Sri Lanka landslide claims 100

Villagers at the site of a landslide caused by heavy monsoon rains in Koslanda village in the Badulla district. Up to 300 people are feared buried alive. Photo: AFP

Residents stand outside a damaged building at the site of a landslide caused by heavy monsoon rains in Koslanda village, central Sri Lanka. Photo: AFP

90 still missing in Washington state mudslide, US officials say as search continues

Heavy equipment moving debris from site of the mudslide on Wednesday. Photo: AP

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