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Mudslide in Guatemala kills 22, death toll rising

by Yuliya Talmazan | January 5, 2009 at 10:33 am

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Twenty two people are feared dead, and fifteen people were injured as the result of a mudslide in northern Guatemala. The story is still unfolding as rescuers are trying to determine the exact number of victims.

Officials say the figure could be much higher as some 140 people were walking by at the time of Sunday's landslide, and many are still missing.

Guatemala's Vice-President Rafael Espada says the death toll could rise as rescuers search for the missing.

The landslide hit Sunday along a highway near the village of Aquil Grande in San Cristobal Verapaz municipality as people were heading to a weekly market.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by further rockfalls, officials say.

The same area was hit by a rockfall last month, killing at least two people.

Some officials said a geological fault triggered the movement of earth, sending huge amounts of mud and rock down a hillside, while other reports suggested road work along the highway could have set off the slide.