Guatemalan authorities declared a state of emergency in the eastern province of San Marcos today after a mudslide buried three homes, leaving at least seven people dead and 14 missing.
Officials said the dawn mudslide was triggered on a hillside near the village of Chichicaste, some 270 kilometers (170 miles) west of Guatemala City, apparently by a series of minor earth tremors that dislodged accumulations of wet, packed earth.
Contingency plans were already in place before the slide and that two helicopters were immediately dispatched to the disaster area, one with specialized evaluation and rescue personnel, the other with emergency food and water supplies.
"Three houses were buried. Ten people lived in the first house, nine lived in the second and two elderly people were in the third house," Mr Emilio Miranda, who lives in Chichicaste, told a local radio station.
Another area resident told the radio station that the mudslide completely buried three homes, but said he did not know whether the people inside had escaped or were buried along with their residences.
"Only God knows," he said, adding that firefighters were searching the mud for the missing. The village has some 94 inhabitants.
AFP