Guatemala Resumes Rescue Work After Landslide
Date: 07-Sep-10
Country: GUATEMALA
Author: Sarah Grainger
An aerial view shows the site of a landslide in La Cumbre de Alaska September 5, 2010.
Photo: REUTERS/Comunicación Social de la Presidencia/Handout
Emergency services in Guatemala on Monday 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.
Flooding and landslides in other areas brought the weekend death toll to at least 44, President Alvaro Colom told local radio.
"The hillsides are very unstable, saturated with water and really it's a dangerous area. There are landslides everywhere, on all the major routes in the country," Colom said.
"People are waiting for the recovery of the bodies of their friends, family, fathers, sons. Really it has been a tragic weekend for the country."
(Editing by Missy Ryan and Mohammad Zargham)
