GUATEMALA: Country resumes rescue work after landslide

Record ID: 700789

  • Title: GUATEMALA: Country resumes rescue work after landslide
  • Date: 7th September 2010
  • Summary: SANTA CATARINA IXTAHUACAN TECPAN, GUATEMALA (SEPTEMBER 06, 2010) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF MUDSLIDE ARRIVAL OF ARMY RESCUE WORKERS HEAVY MACHINERY REMOVING EARTH WHILE LOOKING FOR MORE BODIES ARMY RESCUE WORKERS CORDONING OFF AREA FIREMEN LOOKING FOR VICTIMS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESCUE WORKER, ISIDRO CAMEY, SAYING: "The order is to stay here until we find the last body and secure the area so that rescue rescue workers can work because the area remains on high alert, due to continuous landslides because of the rainy season, and for residents moving around on these highways." WATER COMING OUT FROM DRAINS HIGHWAY AFFECTED BY EXCESS WATER FROM RAINS MACHINERY CLEANING HIGHWAY RESCUE PERSONNEL CLEANING DISASTER AREA WATER CURRENTS AFFECTING HIGHWAY MORE OF RESCUE WORKERS LOOKING FOR VICTIMS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) EYEWITNESS, MARDOQUEO QUATIX, SAYING: "We are very sad and feel very sorry for our fellow countrymen who died. The evangelical priest also died and was placed in a coffin. We don't know when his burial will take place." PEOPLE WALKING AROUND AREA WHERE LANDSLIDE TOOK PLACE SHOES AND HAT BELONGING TO ONE OF THE VICTIMS RESCUE WORKERS CLEANING AREA PEOPLE IN AREA WHERE MUDSLIDE TOOK PLACE
  • Embargoed: 22nd September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guatemala
  • Country: Guatemala
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVACBDXUZPOUWCF01MS50FUR57Q1
  • Story Text: Emergency services in Guatemala on Monday (September 06) resumed their search for victims of landslides that killed and buried dozens of people, as further rain was predicted for the Central American country.
    Heavy rains pummeled Guatemala over the weekend, forcing authorities to call off rescue efforts and sending people fleeing from the saturated hillsides.
    Fire officials in Guatemala City said the bodies of 22 people had been recovered after twin landslides on one of the country's main highways in the Cumbre de Alaska region northwest of the capital.
    The death toll was expected to reach 50.
    Rescue worker, Isidro Camey, said they had been instructed to remain in the area until the last body was found.
    "The order is to stay here until we find the last body and secure the area so that rescue rescue workers can work because the area remains on high alert, due to continuous landslides because of the rainy season, and for residents moving around on these highways."
    An eyewitness, Mardoqueo Quatix, said an evangelical priest from the area had died.
    "We are very sad and feel very sorry for our fellow countrymen who died. The evangelical priest also died and was placed in a coffin. We don't know when his burial will take place."
    Flooding and landslides in other areas brought the weekend death toll to at least 44, President Alvaro Colom told local radio.
    Colom added the hillsides were very unstable and saturated with water. He also said there were landslides everywhere, on all the major routes in the country and that people were waiting for the recovery of the bodies of their friends, family, fathers, sons in this a tragic weekend for the country.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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