Mudslide in Guatemala leaves more than 600 missing

GUATEMALA CITY – More than 600 people were missing after a mudslide on the outskirts of the Guatemalan capital, emergency officials said Friday.

The confirmed death toll rose to 26, but rescuers were continuing to find bodies in the mudslide at the town of Santa Carina Pinula, and hundreds were feared dead.

“There are 600 people missing from 125 houses affected,” said Alejandro Maldonado, director of the National Disaster Relief Agency.

The mudslide occurred after days of rain at about midnight Friday. Witnesses said the steep hillside collapsed and buried the homes.

“There is a mountain of soil over the houses,” Fire Department spokesman Raul Hernandez told radio station Emisoras Unidas.