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Guatemalan landslide kills 35, more missing
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-06 09:53
"The trucks stopped and the workers got out and continued on foot. They are the dead and disappeared," Ical said. Earlier on Monday, Hugo Arvizu, a spokesman for disaster relief commission CONRED, said reports from villagers in the area suggested as many as 60 people were missing, but rescue workers at the scene said that figure seemed too high. Landslides are common in Guatemala, but usually occur during the rainy season between June and November when hills become waterlogged and unstable. The lush hillsides of Alta Verapaz department are prime areas for growing coffee and cardamom but a geological fault in the limestone rock formations cuts straight through the area. Garcia said once the area was stable again, authorities would set off controlled detonations to reduce the risk of further landslides and then reroute the road for good. |
