40 killed in mudslide in Guatemala
7/10/2005 11:10
Forty people were killed in a mudslide in a town popular with tourists in
Guatemala caused by rains from Hurricane Stan and hundreds more missing,
according to press reports reaching in Mexico City yesterday.
Local officials
were quoted by the reports as saying that a huge mudslide engulfed dozens of
homes in Guatemala's Maya Indian highlands in the municipality of Santiago
Atitlan, a popular destination for US and European tourists.
Some 300 people
were injured in the tragedy, and no casualties of foreigners have been
disclosed.
Because roads were blocked by mud, rocks and tree trunks, rescue
workers found trouble in reaching the area. Thick fog also prevented rescue
helicopters from taking off.
With the new victims in the mudslide, 225 people
have now died in floods and mudslides in Central America and southern Mexico in
the last few days in the wake of Hurricane Stan.
Meteorologists predict the
rains would continue for the rest of the week.
Xinhua
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