Buried villages abandoned

last updated 8 January 2015

Guatemala

Days after mudslides buried hundreds alive, Guatemalan officials said this week they were giving up rescue efforts and declaring many villages mass graves. Torrential rains accompanying Hurricane Stan triggered mudslides that left dozens of small communities buried under as much as 20 feet of mud. The official death toll from the hurricane stands at 652, but with recovery efforts now largely abandoned, the actual total will likely never be known. “We are asking that it be declared a cemetery,” said Diego Esquina, the mayor of Panabaj, where hundreds remain missing. “We are tired. We no longer know where to dig.”