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Guatemala mudslide leaves hundreds missing | Guatemala mudslide leaves hundreds missing |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Rescue workers in Guatemala are digging through rubble from a mudslide that hit a village not far from the capital, in search of hundreds missing. | |
At least 26 bodies have so far been recovered from the village of El Cambray Dos, rescue services say. | |
Heavy rains swept a torrent of boulders and mud onto houses on Thursday, 15km (nine miles) east of Guatemala City. | |
Relatives have been receiving calls and texts from people trapped under the rubble, reporters at the scene say. | |
The injured and homeless are being taken to makeshift shelters. | |
Julio Sanchez, a spokesman for Guatemala's volunteer firefighters, said 26 people had died and another 36 people were taken to hospitals. | |
But Alejandro Maldonado, the head of the Guatemalan disaster agency, has warned that as many as 600 people could still be missing. | |
He said that number of people was believed to be asleep in their homes when the mudslide occurred, he added. | |
El Cambray is surrounded by steep hills that tower over the houses which are mostly set in the valley bottom. | El Cambray is surrounded by steep hills that tower over the houses which are mostly set in the valley bottom. |
Mr Maldonado said in a radio interview that the forested hills had been weakening for some time and had collapsed largely because of recent heavy rain. |