Guatemala ends landslide rescue

The mountainside is still unstable Enlarge Image

Rescuers in Guatemala say they have called off the search for bodies and any survivors of a massive landslide that killed at least 36 people.

Officials said that the terrain was currently too unstable and dangerous to continue working there.

Thousands of tonnes of rock and earth collapsed on Sunday onto a road in the Alta Verapaz area, some 200km (124 miles) north of Guatemala City.

Twenty-one people were injured, while 30 people are believed to be missing.

The accident happened in a hilly, sparsely populated area, blocking the road that runs from San Cristobal Verapaz to Chicaman.

Officials said that landslips were still occurring, putting rescuers' lives at risk and making it very difficult to bring in heavy machinery to clear the earth.

They said they would try to resume rescue efforts once rockfalls stopped.

The same area was hit by a landslide last month, killing at least two people.

The road through the area had been closed since then but more than 140 people are reported to have ignored safety warnings and left their vehicles to walk past the barriers on foot.

Most of them are believed to have been labourers working on nearby coffee plantations.