At least 18 people, including 10 children, are missing in Guatemala after heavy rains flooded a river that washed away several precarious homes in the capital, the civil security service and the army said on Monday.
• Also read: Mexico: 11 police officers found guilty of killing 17 migrants at US border
The “river flood swept away the houses of the Dios Es Fiel neighborhood under the El Naranjo bridge,” Rodolfo Garcia, spokesman for the National Coordination for Disaster Risk Reduction (Conred, Civil Security), told reporters.
The organization reports in a preliminary report that “18 people are missing and six houses are severely damaged.”
Despite the government ban, hundreds of precarious shelters have been built on the banks of this river, which collects much of the capital’s wastewater.
Conred said emergency services are working to find the missing people.
Army spokesman Ruben Tellez confirmed the number of 18 missing and said 15 members of the army’s humanitarian brigade were involved in the search operations.
Photo AFP
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday morning after heavy rain on Sunday.
Tons of water, stones, earth and rubble buried the tin houses in this deprived neighborhood, an AFP journalist noted.
“It was like a tornado, the river was strong, it swept away several houses, unfortunately the whole area disappeared,” Esau Gonzalez, a resident of the affected neighborhood, told AFP.
“Unfortunately there is no housing policy in Guatemala and that’s why we are here,” emphasized the 42-year-old.
“The river swept away entire families. Unfortunately, we knew the risks, but if we are here, it is out of necessity,” explained another resident of the neighborhood, Marvin Cabrera, a 36-year-old motorcycle delivery man.
Thousands of people in Guatemala, where 59% of the 17.7 million population live in poverty, have been forced to build their homes in areas at risk, including flooding, due to a housing shortage.
According to the Guatemalan Chamber of Construction (CGC) and the National Association of Home Builders (Anacovi), there is a shortage of around two million homes in the country.