Hundreds feared dead in Guatemala landslide

Hopes faded of finding any remaining survivors of a massive landslide in Guatemala that killed at least 73 people, even as rescue workers scrabbled through earth and rubble in search of hundreds of others still missing.

Diggers plowed into the mounds of earth that destroyed homes in Santa Catarina Pinula on the southeastern flank of Guatemala City looking for about 350 people who authorities said were still unaccounted for after Thursday night's disaster.

Loosened by rain, tons of earth, rock and trees cascaded onto part of the town from the hillside above, flattening houses and trapping residents who had gone home for the night.

The homes engulfed by the deluge, which were built in a neighborhood of the town known as El Cambray II near the bottom of a ravine, now risk becoming tombs.

Sergio Cabanas, a senior official at disaster agency Conred, told a news conference that he doubted any other survivors would be found. "But we have enough hope to keep looking, even if just one more person gets out alive," he said.

Clutching photos of loved ones, families of victims stood in line outside a makeshift morgue near the excavation site, some of them crying, to see if they recognized any corpses.

Ana Maria Escobar, a 48-year-old housewife, sobbed as she waited for news of 21 missing family members who lived in the town that she had left only a year ago.

"This is the worst thing that has happened to us," she said. "So far only my sister-in-law has been found."

At last count, the Attorney General's office reported 73 dead via Twitter, though fears that hundreds more remain trapped threaten to make the landslide one of the worst natural disasters to hit Central America in recent years.

Among the dead were 17 children, and there were at least 26 people reported as injured.

Around 1,800 soldiers, firemen and neighbors helped with the rescue efforts, according to David de Leon, a spokesman for Conred, who said some homes had been buried under about 50 feet (15 meters) of earth.

Every fresh batch of earth turned up by the diggers held more personal belongings, from mattresses and books to toys and Christmas decorations.

One digger unearthed the body of a little girl with scratch marks on her arms and legs, which rescue workers said may have been signs of her struggles to escape. People looking on cried out to prevent the digger from destroying her body.

Gaby Ramirez, an 18-year-old courier, had been searching for her brother with shovel in hand since 6 a.m., after the landslide buried a neighbor's house he was visiting.

"I don't hope to find him alive, but I do hope to find his body and bury him," she said. "I have to bury him, I can't leave him there."

On Friday there were reports of family members receiving text messages of buried survivors asking to be rescued.

The tragedy has hit Guatemala after weeks of political turmoil, just as it prepares to elect a new president.

Last month, outgoing President Otto Perez was forced to stand down and was arrested on corruption charges.

In October 2005, heavy rainfall triggered a devastating landslide in Panabaj in the southwest of the Central American country, burying the village. Hundreds of people are believed to have died, and many of the bodies were never recovered.