The following excerpt is from a September 7, 2010 article published by Al Jazeera. To read the article in its entirety, please click here.
Officials in Guatemala have called off the search for 15 people missing after deady landslides, fearing fresh avalanches of mud after the heaviest rains in 60 years.
The decision on Tuesday came as rescuers resumed their grim task of digging for corpses in a ravine next to the Pan-American Highway.
“The search has been called off because of the condition of the ground,” David de Leon, a spokesman for the government’s emergency management office CONRED, told AFP news agency.
The overall toll from the torrential early season rains stands at 45 in Guatemala and three in southern Mexico, but with at least 15 still feared to be buried alive in mud off the Guatemalan highway that figure could rise.
The rains triggered almost 200 landslides and collapses, causing at least a half-billion dollars in damages, according to the Guatemalan government, which ordered three days of national mourning and declared a state of emergency.
Alvaro Colom, the president, said on Sunday that the tragedy was made worse by a shortage of government funds after Tropical Storm Agatha, which killed 165 people and left thousands homeless in May.
The United States on Tuesday offered $4.38 million in aid to Guatemala, while the United Nations said it would send 20,000 food rations to help those affected by the floods.
Downpour continues…
Click here to read the rest of the article, or here to read more about 2010 mudslides.
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