Landslide buries homes and bus in western Guatemala; 11 dead

GUATEMALA CITY – Part of a waterlogged hillside broke loose and slammed into homes and vehicles in western Guatemala early Tuesday, killing 11 people.

The landslide buried two houses, a small bus and a truck in the municipality of San Pedro Soloma, in the department of Huehuetenango near the border with Mexico.

Sergio Cabanas, executive secretary of Guatemala’s national disaster agency, said 10 of the dead were passengers on the bus and it was not immediately clear how many people live in the homes that were affected.

The fatal victims included eight adults and three children, and four injured people were treated at a hospital.

The area has been drenched by heavy rains in recent hours, and disaster agency spokesman Julio Sanchez said neighbors were being removed from the area due to the risk that another slide could occur.

Sanchez said the slide took place at 5:30 a.m. local time.

Emergency crews were responding to the scene.