GUATEMALA CITY – Rescue crews used shovels and picks to dig bodies out of thick mud in Guatemala yesterday after tropical storm Agatha’s torrential rain killed at least 113 people across Central America.
The first named storm of the 2010 Pacific hurricane season, Agatha slammed into Guatemala on Saturday, dumping more than one metre (3ft) of rain in the mountainous west of the country and in neighbouring El Salvador, and sparking worries about damage to the coffee crop in both countries.
More than 50 people were still reported missing in Guatemala yesterday. As the rain abated, exhausted rescue workers hauled away stones and tree trunks from crushed houses as they fought to reach the wounded.
“We just have shovels and picks. We don’t have any machinery to dig,” said firefighter Mario Cruz, who had been working almost non-stop since Friday night.
Other rescuers walked for several hours along muddy tracks to reach trapped villagers and pull them out of collapsed homes.
“We had to walk with our equipment through the mountains, rescue people and then walk back again,” said firefighter Rony Veliz. “It’s been very hard.”
More than 94,000 people have been evacuated as the storm buried homes under mud, swept away a highway bridge near Guatemala City and opened up sinkholes in the capital.
The head of the emergency services, Alejandro Maldonado, said at least 92 people had died in Guatemala, and another 54 people were missing.
Nine people were killed in El Salvador and 12 in Honduras.
Agatha dissipated as it crossed Guatemala but emergency workers warned residents to expect heavy rain for several more days and said further mudslides were possible. – (Reuters)