Landslide in Guatemala

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Hillside collapses on the outskirts of Guatemala City...

Guatemalan mudslide death toll reaches 56, hundreds missing
Oct 3,`15 -- Rescue workers using shovels and pickaxes recovered more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed hillside on the outskirts of Guatemala City on Saturday as an official said the death toll had risen to 56 with another 350 people believed missing.

Julio Sanchez, spokesman for Guatemala's volunteer firefighters, said the death toll will likely continue to rise as emergency crews dig through tons of earth that buried some 125 homes Thursday night in Cambray, a neighborhood in the suburb of Santa Catarina Pinula. Earlier estimates had said that 600 people could be missing. Despite the passing time, emergency services coordinator Sergio Cabanas said rescuers "still have hope of finding people alive if we just keep searching."

Welsar Nazario carries the coffin of his five-month-old nephew Alezandro Macario, who died in a mudslide, to the Santa Catarina Pinula cemetery on the outskirts of Guatemala City, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. Rescue workers recovered more bodies early Saturday after a hillside collapsed on homes on Thursday night, while more are feared still buried in the rubble.​

At the site, workers with dogs labored without rest, halting only when a long whistle sounded, testing if anyone was still alive under the mud and debris. "We're from the rescue unit," one worker announced. "If there is someone there, please make some noise or yell." When no response was heard, two more long whistles sounded, a sign that the workers should continue digging. Cabanas said he had been contacted by several people who reported receiving messages on their cellphones from family members trapped under the rubble. He said authorities had not seen the reported text messages, but had asked local telephone companies to try to map out the places where the messages were sent from.

Highlighting the horror faced by rescuers, Sanchez said that officials had arrived at the death toll of 56 by counting body parts, such as heads and torsos. Later Saturday, hopes began to fade among rescue workers. "Given the time that has passed, the truth is there is little hope" of finding survivors, said Ines de Leon or the Volunteer Firefighters Rescue Brigade of Retalhuleu province. "Only a miracle can save them." Among those mourning the loss of their relatives on Saturday was Nehemias Gonzalez, who seemed to have run out of tears. He lost his 21-year-old wife, Masiel Alexandra, and their 2-year-old child, Angel Efrain.

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Hope fading, rescuers dig for survivors in Guatemala landslide
Sat Oct 3, 2015 - Rescue workers scrabbled through earth and rubble on Saturday in search of survivors of a massive landslide in Guatemala that killed at least 59 people, even 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."

A woman shows the photograph of a missing relative at the site of a mudslide in Santa Catarina Pinula, on the outskirts of Guatemala City​

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 recognized 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 59 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.

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Death toll rises to 152...

Questions arise about neighborhood where slide killed 152
Oct 5,`15 -- Emergency workers spent a fourth day digging bodies out of a massive mudslide on Monday, watching the death toll rise to 152 as questions mounted about why people were allowed to build homes at the base of a dangerous hillside next to a small river.

Backhoes continued to remove thousands of tons of dirt from the acres-wide mudflow on the outskirts of Guatemala City, with practically no hope of finding anyone alive and increasing difficulties in rescuing whole bodies. Emergency services coordinator Sergio Cabanas said more bodies had been uncovered, bringing the confirmed death toll to 152; about 300 people remain missing. Guatemala's national Disaster Reduction Commission, known as the Conred, said Monday it had warned about the risk to the Cambray neighborhood since last year, and had recommended that residents be relocated. The commission has now declared the Cambray area uninhabitable, and many residents are now living in shelters.

Rescuers carry a body recovered on the fourth day of searching for victims of a mudslide in Cambray, a neighborhood in the suburb of Santa Catarina Pinula, on the outskirts of Guatemala City, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. Hope faded for many families that they would find survivors, as the smell of rotting bodies spread across the enormous mound of earth, and rescuers reported the buried dwellings they reached were filled with water, suggesting anyone trapped inside would have drowned.​

Commission Director Alejandro Maldonado said he had warned Mayor Tono Coro of the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula that the river was eating away at the base of the steep hill. Maldonado said he was waiting for a report from local authorities about what they had done in response to the warning. Municipal spokesman Manuel Pocasangre said local authorities had warned residents about the dangers, but the inhabitants did not want to leave their homes. Maldonado acknowledged there are many neighborhoods like Cambray in and around Guatemala City that are at risk of flooding or mudslides. "What happened in Cambray is just a tragic case of what could potentially happen throughout the city," Maldonado said.

Rescue efforts resumed early Monday, but overnight rain made the digging more precarious, said fire department spokesman Julio Sanchez. He said the number of rescuers has been reduced and crews were using heavy machinery to move the mud. Maldonado said authorities are still committed to recovering the bodies of victims, but stressed "we are not going to risk more lives unnecessarily." In the past, some mudslide areas have been left partially unexcavated and declared de-facto graveyards. On Monday, 187 people waited on cots inside the Salon Municipal, an auditorium the town usually employs for events and parties. Displaced families could find food, medical services, activities for children and psychological services there. But no one yet was talking about relocation or compensation for losing their homes, most of which remain intact and weren't hit by the slide.

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People may not be able to return home...

Guatemala to investigate for those responsible for mudslide
Oct 6,`15 -- The warning signs were everywhere in the canyon neighborhood of Cambray on the outskirts of Guatemala City, where a mudslide buried hundreds of people last week.

Residents lived with regular falling rocks and flooding from the adjacent Pinula River. Evelyn de Cifuentes said her mother-in-law was killed in a smaller slide in 2010 next to her own house. A November report by Guatemala's National Disaster Reduction Commission said there were "fractures in blocks of material that can indicate future slides," and people should be moved out. But the area wasn't declared uninhabitable until Monday, four days after hundreds of people almost certainly perished when a hillside buried acres of the neighborhood. The official death count stood at 186 Tuesday, with 300 people still believed to be missing.

A man prays during the burial of five mudslide victims at the Santa Catarina Pinula cemetery on the outskirts of Guatemala City, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. Prosecutors in Guatemala said Tuesday they have opened an investigation into who allowed homes to be built in an unsafe area of Cambray where a massive mudslide killed more than 100 people.​

The Guatemala prosecutor's office announced it will conduct an investigation into who was responsible for allowing the dangerous conditions to exist. "We will establish the degree of responsibility as best we can - who authorized construction in that area, and whether someone didn't take appropriate action to avoid this tragedy," said prosecutor Rotman Perez of the political crimes section. Perez said all aspects are under investigation, including who was given the report from the disaster commission, whether anything was done, who had jurisdiction over the area and who was collecting the taxes.

About 250 people remained in two municipal shelters barred from returning to their homes. They said they hadn't received any information on relocation, but had been told that it's coming. "There were slides, but just pieces," said Marco Antonio Pu, 17, now in a shelter with his family after losing their home built the year he was born. "But we never imagined one like this." Human rights prosecutor Jorge de Leon Duque said he is calling for municipal authorities to remove 50 other families still in the area. He said if it's not done, he will seek a court order. He said similar dangerous conditions exist all over Guatemala. The disaster commission, known as Conred, says there are 8,000 threatened locations. "We have a huge risk that this could happen again," de Leon said. "You can't authorize homes in areas with dangerous conditions."

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Digging out from the landslide...

Guatemala Landslide Death Toll Tops 220; Another 350 Missing
October 08, 2015 — At least 220 bodies have been recovered after a massive landslide buried part of a town in Guatemala last week, while about 350 people are missing, national disaster agency Conred said Thursday.

Loosened by heavy rains, a hillside collapsed onto Santa Catarina Pinula on the southeastern flank of Guatemala City on October 1, burying more than 100 homes under tons of earth, rock and trees, and sparking a huge rescue effort. Conred said 386 people were evacuated after the tragedy, one of the worst in years to strike Central America, a region long prone to devastating floods.

A worker places flowers on the tomb of Santos Etelvina Sontay, who died in the Cambray neighborhood mudslide, at the Santa Catarina Pinula cemetery on the outskirts of Guatemala City​

Entire families were buried alive, and hundreds of rescue workers have spent the past week trying to dig out bodies. Guatemalan authorities initially said up to 600 people were unaccounted for in the disaster. Since then, it has given various estimates of the number missing. Prosecutors in Guatemala said they were looking at whether there was any criminal misconduct at the site after Conred had warned of the risks of building homes in the neighborhood, which lies at the bottom of a deep ravine.

Guatemala Landslide Death Toll Tops 220; Another 350 Missing

 

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Help arrives in Guatemala...

Relief Brought to Guatemala after Deadly Avalanche
Friday, October 09, 2015 - Guatemalans are in mourning after an avalanche in Santa Catarina Pinula killed hundreds of people.

In the wake of this tragedy, CBN's Guatemala has sent rescue workers to help find some of the missing. "The houses were buried approximately at 32 to 49 feet deep," rescue worker Mario Cruz said. "This is making the search and rescue efforts more difficult." As time goes by the possibility of finding survivors decreases, but some have not lost hope. "Well, we are here providing aid, and in the area where we are, we are looking for the children of a sister from our church, trusting God that they are still alive," one volunteer said.

A number of families have lost their homes and are being housed at government issued shelters. "I cannot explain what happened," Marta Alicia Martinez said. " At one point it just happened, in a little while all the houses were buried." But help is arriving from all corners of the nation, mainly food, water and clothes which are being stored for distribution by the rescue teams. Despite having material aid available, the spiritual necessities are great and are hard to supply.

CBN's Guatemala has sent a group of counselors to pray for people and provide emotional support. Children also recieving support through games from "Superbook," which serves as a reminder that Jesus loves them. "The spiritual need persists," Patrinska Jerez said. "That is why the CBN team, along with their counselors, are already working with the people, giving them words of love and hope and especially, praying for each one of them."

Relief Brought to Guatemala after Deadly Avalanche - World - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com