Death toll in Guatemala landslide climbs to 73
CAMBRAY (AP) — Guatemalan authorities said the number of people killed when a hillside collapsed on houses in the village of El Cambray has risen to 73.
An estimated 600 people were still missing, two days after the landslides suddenly hit, raising the prospect that the number of people who perished in the disaster could rise much higher.
Julio Sanchez, a spokesman for firefighters who are leading the painstaking search for survivors, told reporters that several young children, including newborn babies, were among the dead in Santa Catarina Pinula.
On Thursday night, following heavy rain, waterlogged earth and debris tore through the village of El Cambray, in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula, destroying or damaging 125 homes.
At dawn Saturday, rescue workers, police, soldiers and volunteers began a second day of clawing away at the debris with picks and shovels.
Municipal authorities had urged the community, about 15 kilometers east of the capital Guatemala City, to relocate several times, most recently in November of last year.
But many families have refused, saying that they have nowhere to go.
“We can’t live here any more,” Carlos Hernandez, an electrician who survived the landslide, lamented as he stepped between rescuers with his few remaining belongings on his shoulder.
The destruction was sudden and decisive.
“I went on an errand for my mother and when I returned there was nothing,” Carlos Ac, 17, told AFP. He was still waiting for word about his missing mother and seven siblings.
Alex Lopez, 44, called his ex-wife and daughters as soon as he heard of the landslide. “It rang. But there was no answer,” he told AFP.
On Saturday, he was waiting for the body of his ex- wife and had already been given those of his two daughters, aged 21 and 22, and his two- year- old grandson.
Some authorities have said hundreds remain missing. Families have reported receiving text messages from people they believed to still be trapped.