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Hope Fades In Guatemala As Hundreds Still Trapped In Mudslide
Guatemala City (AFP) Oct 09, 2005 A mayor asked Sunday that a river of mud that buried two Guatemalan towns be declared a mass grave for the thousands of people underneath, four days after Tropical Storm Stan triggered mudslides there. "This should be declared a mass grave. It is a cemetery for 1,400 persons, we calculate," Diego Mendoza, mayor of nearby Santiago Atitlan, told AFP. In the early hours of Wednesday an avalanche of rock and mud tumbled from the slopes of San Lucas volcano onto the towns of Panajab and Tzanchaj, 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Guatemala City. Only 71 bodies have been recovered so far, mostly children. The corpses were placed in makeshift wooden coffins and quickly interred. Ten more bodies were recovered in Guatemala Sunday, bringing the total toll from Stan in the hardest-hit country in the region to 519. "The size of the disaster is enormous. The losses are colossal," Vice President Eduardo Stein said during an interview with Sonora radio about widespread flooding and landslides triggered by Stan since October 1. Stein said 130,000 persons were directly affected by Stan. However, he said that 3.5 million people have been affected in areas where water and electricity have been cut. The death toll in all of Central America and Mexico from Stan's passing rose to at least 629 Sunday. In El Salvador, 71 persons died, 28 died in Mexico and 11 in Nicaragua, authorities in those countries said. In this usually touristic region of Guatemala, rescuers -- armed only with shovels, picks and hoes to dig out the dead -- began showing signs of fatigue, as there was little food and drinking water in the devastated Lake Atitlan area. Rain fell across the country Sunday, complicating the recovery efforts as helicopters were unable to fly over devastated areas, officials said. Stan slammed ashore as a hurricane in the Mexican state of Veracruz early Tuesday but began pounding northern Central America with rain on October 1, with Guatemala taking the hardest blow. Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has made an impassioned plea for international assistance, estimating agricultural losses at 135 million dollars. But he did not hold out much hope for his compatriots. "I believe we are in for more unpleasant surprises," Berger said. "Many people remain missing. There have been many mudslides, and many communities remain cut off." Infrastructure and housing minister Eduardo Castillo said more than half of Guatemala's 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) of rural roads had been damaged. The United States, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Canada and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration have pledged help. Norway's Ambassador Rolf Berg requested a detailed needs assessment to determine how best to help Guatemalans affected by the storm. Mexico, meanwhile, launched a vaccination drive amid an outbreak of dengue fever in the storm-hit area. A quarantine was slapped on the town of Huejutla, in central Hidalgo state, where 180 fell ill. Cuba sent 100 doctors to administer vaccines in El Salvador, earning the thanks of President Antonio Saco. At least 28 Mexicans were killed by the storm and two million were affected, officials said. "We will overcome this tragedy. Please be calm. I promise we will rebuild," President Vicente Fox told panicked residents of Huixtlan, just north of the Guatemalan border, where 5,000 people sought refuge in shelters. Mexico has set aside 1.6 million dollars for rescue and reconstruction efforts from the recent spike in oil revenues and the country's emergency fund. Normally, when there are natural disasters, the Mexican army trudges in to help. But Chiapas residents complained bitterly of being forgotten this time around. Hundreds walked from their village homes in search of potable water and food. Locals helped one another rappel down ravines and riverbeds where washed-out bridges used to be, trying to get into the nearest town. "The police don't want to get their shoes wet; they have left us to fend for ourselves," said Amado Montes, a resident of a village cut off by the flooding and mudslides. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has been one of the deadliest and most active on record. Stan was the 10th Atlantic hurricane this year. Hurricane Katrina, which slammed the US Gulf of Mexico coast August 29, killed more than 1,200 people, becoming the deadliest storm to hit the United States since 1928. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest When the Earth Quakes
ISRO Developing Ocean Bottom Warning Sensors
Bangalore, India (SPX) Jan 11, 2006Indian Space Research Organisation is developing ocean bottom sensors that will help warn tsunami strikes in advance, the Press Trust Of India reports. |
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