Guatemalan village wiped out as mudslides kill hundreds

Dozens of mudslides in Guatemala's highlands, at least one of which buried an entire community, have multiplied the feared death toll from a week of hurricane-related rain in Central America and southern Mexico. Officials confirmed 508 dead in Guatemala, with unofficial reports estimating fatalities at several times that number. Sixty-seven people died in El Salvador, 15 in southern Mexico and 15 across Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica.

At the weekend the authorities said there were still 180 communities classified as incommunicado in Guatemala. A spokesman for the national rescue agency said he was concerned about forecasts of more rain because of another tropical weather system currently off Venezuela and heading for Panama.

In the worst case confirmed so far, the Mayan Indian village of Panabaj, nestled into the foothills of the Tolimán volcano on the edge of Lake Atitlán, disappeared under a thick apron of mud estimated to be up to 12 metres (40ft) deep. Witnesses told reporters that they were woken early on Wednesday by a roaring noise some confused with a volcanic eruption. Some survived by running to the church and the other few solid structures in the village. On Saturday volunteers found only one body - that of a three-year-old girl. With hope of uncovering more bodies fading, it appeared likely the search would be abandoned and the site declared a mass grave. One local fire brigade spokesman told Reuters that there might be up to 1,400 people buried in the mud.

Constant rain falling over deforested hills have made Guatemala's poverty-stricken highland indigenous villages especially vulnerable. There is particular concern about what might have happened in the remote northern region of San Marcos where unofficial reports indicate many hundreds could have died.

Rescuers were unable to even fly over the region until Saturday because of low cloud. A spokesman said that they hoped to intensify supply flights yesterday. There were no reports of any tourists being killed or injured.

The scale of the disaster in Guatemala far surpasses the damage caused in 1998 by Hurricane Mitch which killed 10,000 people in Central America.