Thu, 06:43 31 Jul 2008 GMT17

 

Garbage dump landslide kills 4 in Guatemala
20 Jun 2008 19:22:33 GMT
Source: Reuters
GUATEMALA CITY, June 20 (Reuters) - A landslide at a garbage dump in the Guatemalan capital on Friday killed at least four people and injured six others who made their living by scavenging for food and recyclable goods, firefighters said.

"So far, we've pulled out four corpses but the people who work here say there are more people under the tonnes of garbage," said city fire department spokesman Mynor Rodas.

Hundreds of families make their living at the dump in Guatemala City, searching the garbage for food, recyclable metal and other discarded items they can sell.

Guatemala is in the midst of its annual rainy season, when dangerous landslides are common.

In 2005, a massive fire engulfed the dump after a cloud of methane gas exploded. After the fire, the city built a wall around the dump and prohibited children from working there. (Reporting by Herbert Hernandez; Editing by Bill Trott)
AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
Western Canada highway buried by boulders

Massive landslide buries highway near Vancouver

AlertNet insight
Asia Where's the global food crisis taking us?

Aid agency news feed
Europe ACT Alert: Floods in the western regions of Ukraine

Blogs
Asia Moon G8 report on climate change, 2050

Maps
MAP: Romania/Ukraine: Floods (as of 28 Jul 2008) - Location Map


Country information


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-31T012545Z_01_VAN04-_RTRIDSP_2_CANADA-SLIDE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/VAN04..htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-30T224738Z_01_VAN05-_RTRIDSP_2_CANADA-SLIDE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/VAN05..htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-30T224248Z_01_VAN03_RTRIDSP_2_CANADA-SLIDE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/VAN03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-30T215516Z_01_VAN01_RTRIDSP_2_CANADA-SLIDE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/VAN01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-30T002641Z_01_PJM12_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE-LOSANGELES_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PJM12.htm

A large rock slide lies across the highway between Vancouver and the ski resort of Whistler in Porteau Cove, British Columbia July 30, 2008. A small tour bus narrowly missed being ...



URL: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20477164.htm

For our full disclaimer and copyright information please visit http://www.alertnet.org