Rescue workers in Guatemala are continuing to search for survivors of a massive landslide that has claimed the lives of at least 59 people, with hopes fading for hundreds of others who are still missing.
Diggers plowed into the mounds of earth that destroyed homes in Santa Catarina Pinula on the southeast of Guatemala City looking for about 350 people who authorities said were still unaccounted for after Thursday night's disaster.
Tons of earth, rock and trees cascaded onto part of the town from the hillside above following heavy rain, flattening houses and trapping residents.
"As the hours go by, we are losing hope," said Irving Vargas, 48, a local fireman helping the rescue effort.
"We haven't pulled anyone out alive in quite a while."
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.
At last count, the Attorney General's office reported 59 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 disaster agency Conred, who said some homes had been buried under about 15 metres of earth.
The search would continue for at least 72 hours after the disaster, but the likelihood of locating survivors after that was slim, he said.
