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SUNDAY CHRONICLE October 4, 2015
Guatemala mudslide leaves hundreds missing
(BBC News) RESCUE workers in Guatemala are digging through rubble from a mudslide that hit a village not far from the capital, in search of hundreds missing. At least 26 bodies have so far been recovered from the village of El Cambray Dos, rescue services say. Heavy rains swept a torrent of boulders and mud onto houses on Thursday, 15km (nine miles) east of Guatemala City. Relatives have been receiving calls and texts from people trapped under the rubble, reporters at the scene say. Survivors have been taken to makeshift shelters. Rescuers temporarily called off the search late on Friday because of heavy rains, AP news agency reports. Julio Sanchez, a spokesman for Guate-
mala’s volunteer firefighters, said 26 people had died, including a number of children, and another 36 people were taken to hospitals. One man was pulled alive from the rubble after more than 15 hours after the mudslide hit. But Alejandro Maldonado, the head of the Guatemalan disaster agency, has warned that as many as 600 people could still be missing. He said that number of people was believed to be asleep in their homes when the mudslide occurred, he added. El Cambray is surrounded by steep hills that tower over the houses which are mostly set in the valley bottom. Mr Maldonado said in a radio interview that the forested hills had been weakening for some time and had collapsed largely because of recent heavy rain.
Heavy rains swept a torrent of boulders and mud over dozens of homes on Thursday night.
Hurricane Joaquin: Hunt for missing cargo ship off Bahamas (BBC News) THE US Coast Guard says it has resumed its search for a cargo ship with 33 crew that vanished in Bahamian waters during Hurricane Joaquin. The 224-metre (735ft) El Faro, with 28 Americans and five Poles on board, was last heard from on Thursday and was reported to be taking on water. The ship - which was travelling from Florida to Puerto Rico - was also believed to be listing at 15 degrees. Joaquin brought heavy rains to the Bahamas, damaging a number of houses. There have been no reports of casualties so far. The now-weaker Category Four storm - with sustained winds of up to 210km/h (130mph) - is moving away from the island nation in the Atlantic. US officials said they believed any threat to the East Coast was fading.
The 224-metre vessel was last heard from on Thursday and was reported to be taking on water said it was working togeth- try to re-establish contact BIG WAVES er with the Coast Guard to with the ship. “We’re going to go and try and save lives,” Coast Guard Cpt Mark Fedor said on Saturday, Associated Press reported. “We’re going to push it to the operational limits as far as we can.’’ Cpt Fedor added that waves of up to nine metres and heavy winds could have destroyed El Faro’s communications equipment. The Coast Guard said it had already covered more than 850 sq miles (2,200 sq km) in the search for the vessel. El Faro’s owner, Florida-based TOTE Services,