Hurricane Eta: Over 100 suspected to be killed in a landslide in Guatemala

Guatemalan search forces removed the first bodies Friday from a large rain-fuelled landslide where at least 100 people are considered to be buried, as the remains of Hurricane Eta moved throughout Caribbean waters, growing en route to Cuba.

Governments managed to correspond the displaced and dead, and accumulate bodies from landslides and flooding created by Hurricane Eta, now turned into a tropical depression, that resulted in deaths of dozens of people from Mexico to all the way Panama.

In southern Mexico, beyond the border from Guatemala, 19 people killed as heavy thundershowers connected to Eta created mudslides and increased streams and rivers, according to Chiapas situation civil defence director Elias Morales Rodriguez.

The worst event happened in the mountain township of Chenalho, where 10 people were mopped away by a rain-swollen water; their dead bodies were later recovered from downstream.

Mexico’s National Meteorological Service announced Eta’s “widespread circulation is creating powerful to torrential downpours on the Yucatan peninsula and in southeastern Mexico.

”In Guatemala, the first army force transferred a large landslide Friday morning in the central mountains where an expected 150 homes were destroyed Thursday. They retrieved three bodies, as per an army spokesperson.

In a news conference, President Alejandro Giammattei announced he gathered there were over 100 people killed in San Cristobal Verapaz but remarked that the real death toll is yet to be confirmed.

“The scene is complex in that region,” he declared, noting rescuers were fighting to reach the site.

Tropical Depression Eta was focused 115 miles (180 kilometres) east of Belize City. It was travelling northeast at 7 mph (11 kph) and had highest sustained gusts of 35 mph (55 kph).

Hurricane Eta’s arrival Tuesday afternoon in northeast Nicaragua developed days of heavy downpours as it slithered toward shore. Its potential, circular path north through Honduras advanced courses over their lines and flowing into neighbourhoods where children were forced onto rooftops to wait for rescue.