Tearfund partners respond after Guatemalan landslides

Tearfund partners are reaching out to people affected by deadly landslides that have hit Guatemala in the last few weeks.

The landslides were triggered by hours of torrential rain that destabilised hillsides and washed away homes. In one incident, at least 22 people died when a wall of mud engulfed a bus in the north-west of Guatemala City and another mudslide struck passersby as they rushed to help.

Another landslide killed a dozen people when it slammed into a bus on the Inter-American Highway, one of the country’s busiest roads. It is one of 30 mudslides to have hit the road.

Alexis Pacheco, Tearfund’s country representative for Guatemala, said the rains had been the worst to hit the country in the last 60 years.

Tearfund said this had already been a difficult year for Guatemalans after tropical storm Agatha killed 150 people and drought killed off many crops.

Pacheco fears the imminent rainy season could bring more devastation.

“And worse could be to come,” he said. “Normally September and October are the heavy rainy months in the region due to the hurricane season. We are praying that this doesn’t happen because if it does, it could cause a major disaster.”

Tearfund’s local partner Vida is providing shelter to people whose homes have been washed away or badly damaged by the mud. Another partner AMI San Lucas is offering counselling services to people who lost loved ones.