Hundreds of firemen, police, soldiers, and volunteers were taking part in the rescue efforts.
Mardoqueo Escalante shows a photo of his sister, Josefina Escalante, 23, one of the missing persons after a sewage-polluted river swollen by heavy rains swept away precarious home, in the Kjell Laugerud colony in Guatemala City. / Photo: AFP
Thirteen people, including eight children, were still missing after the river tore through the Dios es Fiel informal settlement in the early morning hours, the Conred disaster relief agency said on Monday. Hundreds of needy residents of the capital constructed their homes on the banks of the river despite a municipal prohibition due to it containing residential wastewater from the capital's sewage system.
Resident Esau Gonzalez, a 42-year-old day worker, recalled how"the river... took homes, neighbors' belongings. Neighbors disappeared.""Rent is very high. Salaries are not enough to pay rent with," he said."We knew the risk, we are here out of necessity," he added.Iris Lopez, 27, said she hoped the government would move the community to a safer place, adding"nothing remained" of the rickety house of her sister, who was away visiting their mother.
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