GUATEMALA CITY: Around 150 people have been feared killed in a remote village of Guatemala where dozens of houses were buried by mudslides triggered by Storm Eta’s torrential rains.
Bad weather has hampered rescue efforts while roads are still blocked and large areas remain flooded.
Earlier, the authorities had confirmed at least 50 deaths across the country.
Eta made landfall in neighbouring Nicaragua on Tuesday as a Category Four hurricane with winds of 140mph (225km/h) and torrential rains. It then weakened into a tropical depression as it moved into neighbouring Honduras and later Guatemala.
President Alejandro Giammattei said around 100 people were feared dead in Quejá in the central region of Alta Verapaz. Giammattei said rescue efforts were limited by the country having only one helicopter adequate for these operations.
“We have a lot of people trapped whom we have not been able to reach,” he said. A state of emergency has been declared in many areas.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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