The National Coordinator for Disaster Risk Reduction (Conred) confirmed this morning the discovery of a minor and an adult, while the municipal fire department said it happened at the Las Vacas hydroelectric power station in Chinautla.
At least 16 special teams are conducting a pursuit of about 15 kilometers from the capital’s El Naranjo Bridge using all means, including dogs and drones.
In the early hours of last Monday, the intensity of the rains caused the collapse of a dam, the waters of the Las Vacas River reached a height of 10 meters, washing away 11 simple houses with their inhabitants and leaving another 25 in danger.
The country’s President, Alejandro Giammattei, expressed concern and solidarity with the families affected by the tragedy a few hours after the event, adding that his government had deployed three task forces with 94 soldiers.
The head of state called for unity in this difficult moment, which “painfully reminds us of the reality of climate change,” he said. Press media and social network users pointed out that it was not the water that once again plunged the country of the Quetzal into mourning, but the executive branch that turned away, because helping the poor means providing decent buildings in which to live.
59 percent of Guatemala’s 17.7 million people live in poverty and a significant proportion have been forced to build their precarious homes on the slopes of ravines, on river banks and in flood plains.
According to the building chamber and the housing association, the housing deficit in the country is around two million houses.
Before the incident, Conred said in a report that the rainy season in this Central American nation had left 29 dead and affected more than two million people since the end of April.
There were 5,628 casualties, 10,220 were evacuated and 9,613 were at risk, he added.
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