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Rescuers look for 24 missing in deadly Guatemala landfill slide

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Rescuers in Guatemala searched Friday for 24 people missing in a massive landfill slide in the capital earlier this week from which four bodies have already been recovered, an official said.

Recent heavy rains and seismic tremors caused the mountain of garbage in the open-air dump to come crashing down on the people at the site on Wednesday, said a spokesman for the Guatemala City government, Carlos Sandoval.

The four bodies were pulled out the first day.

Almost all 24 of the missing were trash pickers, operating with or without official permission, but a municipal policeman was also among them, Sandoval said.

Guatemala's national disaster reduction coordination agency said there was virtually no hope of finding any survivors, given the huge amount of trash that had fallen.

Around 250 rescue workers and public prosecutors were the only ones being allowed into the site, the main landfill for the capital.

Rescuers in Guatemala searched Friday for 24 people missing in a massive landfill slide in the capital earlier this week from which four bodies have already been recovered, an official said.

Recent heavy rains and seismic tremors caused the mountain of garbage in the open-air dump to come crashing down on the people at the site on Wednesday, said a spokesman for the Guatemala City government, Carlos Sandoval.

The four bodies were pulled out the first day.

Almost all 24 of the missing were trash pickers, operating with or without official permission, but a municipal policeman was also among them, Sandoval said.

Guatemala’s national disaster reduction coordination agency said there was virtually no hope of finding any survivors, given the huge amount of trash that had fallen.

Around 250 rescue workers and public prosecutors were the only ones being allowed into the site, the main landfill for the capital.

AFP
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