Landslide causes mayhem and kills three people in Guatemala; El Salvador also on alert

A woman and her children were killed Wednesday buried by a mudslide after heavy rains in the north of the capital of Guatemala, Volunteer Firefighters reported.

 

The spokesman for the lifeguards, William Gonzalez, told local media that the tragedy occurred during the morning. The landslide collapsed precarious housing located at the periphery of a settlement. The victims are a 46 year old woman and her children aged 17 and 26, the spokesman said.

 

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction reported that the rainy season has left 19 dead, half a million homeless and damaged thousands of homes, mainly in the north. The rainy season runs until November.

 

The orange alert (danger) was declared because “the unstable conditions of rainfall and a low pressure system in the Pacific,” said David de Leon, spokesman for civil protection.

 

In 2013, natural disasters, mostly caused by the rains left 17 dead and affected 750,000.

El Salvador also on alert

El Salvador has a similar situation due to landslides. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) issued a report on the likelihood of landslides in different areas.In the report, the Marn explains that a “tectonic shift of this magnitude is capable of causing increased slope instability on roads and general soil and cracks can be generated to facilitate the infiltration of rain and in turn increase conditions landslide susceptibility. ”

 

According to reports from Civil Protection, there have been landslides and collapses due to seismic event along stretches of several highways.

http://tinyurl.com/nvbma4l

Advertisement