Wednesday, September 8, 2010
UK cop caught assaulting woman on CCTV, jailed
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| A British judge on Tuesday sentenced a policeman who assaulted a 57-year-old woman by hurling her into a cell to six months in prison. |
A British judge on Tuesday sentenced a policeman who assaulted a 57-year-old woman by hurling her into a cell to six months in prison. Sergeant Mark Andrews was caught on security cameras in 2008 dragging Pamela Somerville across the floor and shoving her into a cell at a police station in Melksham, western England. Afterwards, blood poured from a wound on her head.
Somerville was arrested after being found asleep in her car and refusing a breath test. Andrews was convicted earlier of assault. At Oxford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, Deputy District Judge Peter Greenfield said Andrews was guilty of a presiding over "an atmosphere of bullying and intimidation." The Wiltshire Police force has apologised to Somerville. Assistant Chief Constable Patrick Geenty from the Wiltshire police called Andrews "a disgrace." Somerville told British broadcaster Sky of her ordeal. "When I was left there on my own, I thought 'my goodness, they are going to leave me to die," she said on Tuesday outside her home in Wiltshire. "I thought they must have mistaken me for somebody who had done a terrible crime," she added.
Somerville was arrested after being found asleep in her car and refusing a breath test. Andrews was convicted earlier of assault. At Oxford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, Deputy District Judge Peter Greenfield said Andrews was guilty of a presiding over "an atmosphere of bullying and intimidation." The Wiltshire Police force has apologised to Somerville. Assistant Chief Constable Patrick Geenty from the Wiltshire police called Andrews "a disgrace." Somerville told British broadcaster Sky of her ordeal. "When I was left there on my own, I thought 'my goodness, they are going to leave me to die," she said on Tuesday outside her home in Wiltshire. "I thought they must have mistaken me for somebody who had done a terrible crime," she added.
China Will Be Working On a Railroad For Iran
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| China's railways minister, Liu Zhijun, is expected to visit Tehran this week to finalize the plans. |
China is about to sign a $2 billion deal to build a railway line for Iran, The Telegraph.co.uk. reports. This is the first step of a broader railway plan that will connect the Middle East and Central Asia to Beijing. China has already built a railway line serving Tibet. China's railways minister, Liu Zhijun, is expected to visit Tehran this week to finalize the plans. "The final document of the contract has already been signed with a Chinese company and the Chinese minister will visit Iran on September 12 to ink the agreement," said Hamid Behbahani, the Iranian railway minister. Nicklas Swanstrom, the executive director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, told The Telegraph that the contract to build the line was the first step for China to create an entire rail infrastructure for central Asia, allowing vital access to Iran's port of Chahbahar on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and could also eventually give China a vital overland freight route to Europe.
"For China, it could cut the cost of transporting goods to Europe," said Swanstrom. The route could eventually link Iran with Iraq and even Syria as part of a Middle Eastern corridor that would benefit the 5,000 Iranians who make pilgrimages each day to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. "It also makes political sense, because while technically the U.S., Europe or Russia could block China's sea routes, it would also have a land route. And by tying your neighbor's infrastructure to you, it brings them closer," Swanstrom added. "It decreases Russia's influence in the region, and definitely decreases the influence of the U.S. and Europe."
US church defiant despite condemnation of Koran burning
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| Terry Jones said he had prayed over the matter but insisted the Koran-burning would go ahead |
A small US church says it will defy international condemnation and go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary. The top US commander in Afghanistan warned troops' lives would be in danger if the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida went ahead. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the church's plan was "disrespectful and disgraceful". Muslim countries and Nato have also hit out at the move. And the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, called the idea "idiotic and dangerous". But organiser, Pastor Terry Jones said: "We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam." The controversy comes at a time when the US relationship with Islam is very much under scrutiny. There is heated debate in the country over a proposal to build a mosque and Islamic cultural centre streets from Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 attacks, in New York.
Speaking at a State Department dinner marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Hillary Clinton condemned Pastor Jones. "I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," she said. Despite having a congregation of just 50, the plans of Pastor Jones' church in Gainesville have gained worldwide notoriety, sparking demonstrations in Afghanistan and Indonesia. Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said on Monday that the action could cause problems "not just in Kabul, but everywhere in the world". "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems," he said in a statement. The Vatican, the Obama administration and Nato have also expressed concern over the plan. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday that "any type of activity like that that puts our troops in harm's way would be a concern".
Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen blasted the plans, telling reporters that burning Korans violated the Nato alliance's "values". Pastor Jones - author of a book entitled Islam is of the Devil - has said he understands the general's concerns but that it was "time for America to quit apologizing for our actions and bowing to kings".
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Pakistani flood victims face perilous journey home
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| Rehmad Abbasi was only twenty yards from land. As the heavily-pregnant woman waded with her family through the thick, muddy water, she lost her footing. |
Rehmad Abbasi was only twenty yards from land. As the heavily-pregnant woman waded with her family through the thick, muddy water, she lost her footing. When Rehmad silently slipped underwater in front of me it almost seemed deliberate. I expected her to spring up immediately. But the current was deceptively strong. A man standing next to me knew better. He hurled himself into the water towards the spot where Rehmad disappeared. Rehmad's sister and brother risked drowning themselves as they groped blindly, furiously under the water's surface. For thirty seconds all I could see was the frantic splashing of those trying to rescue her. Then, several metes from where she had gone under, the red and white stripes of her dress emerged. Her brother, Altaf, and the man who had jumped in held her up. An elderly man from the local village, Lodran, said in Urdu, "You can see the fear of death on her face. Two people were found drowned right here yesterday. When the waters recede, we will find more."
Rehmad was wide-eyed and hyperventilating but she was alright. The two men hauled her to shore. When she finished gasping, sobbing took over. "The water grabbed me. I felt a pain, and then it sucked me under," Rehmad cried, while her 10-year-old son, Sabil, wept on her knee. Her father gently stroked her head and reassured his daughter. "This flood did not drown us," he said calmly. "The government drowned us, and God will take revenge on them for our sake. Please be patient, my dear, and calm down -- God will take revenge." The Abbasi family told me they were desperate to return home to Jacobabad, in the north of Sindh province. They and hundreds of thousands like them who attempt the journey from Lodran to Jacobabad must walk 30 kilometers, navigating stretches of treacherous water, usually without the use of a boat or any shade. Most of those who try to go home find the turbulent waters too great an obstacle and turn back.
Authorities had diverted the floodwaters to spare Jacobabad, home to a military base used by American and Pakistani forces. They succeeded in saving the city center, but the town was surrounded as if by an enormous moat. The floods wiped out the roads to the city. District officials tore up parts of the main railway line to allow the water to spread more evenly.
The handful of policemen and naval personnel in the area appeared to be overwhelmed or unconcerned by the scale of the problem. Two motor boats fit for about 10 people would be overloaded with many more and precariously ferry people back and forth. About a dozen police officers sat under a tent looking on as Rehmad's drama unfolded. When a man walked into the tent to seek shelter from the heat, one of the policemen sitting in a chair barked at him to leave. I asked the officer what they were doing to help people cross this stretch of water. He said that they were able to manage the crossing by themselves. Rehmad couldn't bear the thought of tackling it again. "I am scared of everything. I am scared of the boats, I am scared of the water. I am 8 months pregnant and I am scared I will have a miscarriage," she said.Altaf disagreed. "We have to go back across," he protested. "Where else will we go? What choice do we have?"
Three civilians killed in firing in Kashmir's Baramulla
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| Three persons were killed and 14 others injured as security forces allegedly opened fire on a stone-pelting mob that had attacked a senior police officer's convoy in Baramulla district in Kashmir Valley today. |
Kidnapped girl reveals new details of her life as a 'domestic slave'
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Natascha Kampusch pictured in a German TV studio during the recording of Beckmann, on September 4, 2010. |
Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian woman who was held prisoner for eight years in a basement, has revealed new details of her ordeal in an autobiography. In the book, entitled "3,096 Days," Kampusch, who was abducted aged 10 in 1998 while walking to school, describes the relationship she fostered with her abductor Wolfgang Priklopil in order to ensure her survival and the bizarre routines she endured at his hands. The serialization in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper details how Kampusch was locked inside a "hermetically sealed" concrete jail, beaten up to 200 times a week until she heard her own spine "snap" and was manacled to Priklopil while they slept together in his bed. Kampusch escaped in August 2006 aged 18 and now lives in Vienna, Austria. Priklopil, 44, an engineer, committed suicide shortly after her escape.
Penguin, the British publishers of the English version, released a statement on behalf of Kampusch: "I now feel strong enough to tell the full story of my abduction for the first time." Describing her captor, Kampusch writes: "At 35, he had soft features and neatly parted brown hair. It was only when you observed him for a longer period that you noticed the traces of madness lurking beneath his conservative exterior." During her captivity she was held in a subterranean bunker which was initially equipped with just a bed, toilet and sink. She also recalls her first night in captivity. "I asked him to put me to bed properly and tell me a goodnight story," she writes. "I even asked him for a goodnight kiss. Anything to preserve the illusion of normality. And he played along." Kampusch, now 22, goes on to describe how Priklopil would threaten her, saying: "If you're not good, then I'll have to tie you up."
"He told me my parents had refused to pay a ransom, 'Your parents don't love you at all... They don't want you back... They're happy to be rid of you.'" She also describes the psychological games Priklopil played with her. "In all his visits he talked about the people who'd supposedly 'ordered" my kidnapping and would come and take pictures of me 'and do other things as well'. I lived in constant fear that at any moment a horde of evil men would come into my dungeon and attack me. "And of course my fear of the 'true kidnappers' made the man who had abducted me seem caring and friendly by contrast." Some psychologists have described this relationship as Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological condition when the victim of an abduction identifies with the kidnapper and becomes attached to him or her.
Kampusch recounts how Priklopil ordered her to call him "Maestro" or "My Lord" and to kneel in front of him. He also forced her to shave off her hair and work half-naked as a domestic slave, driving her to repeated suicide attempts. Since her release Kampusch has become a media personality, appearing on television shows around the world. She worked for a while as a television presenter in Austria in 2007. A spokesman for Penguin told CNN: "This is her first autobiography and the most detailed account of her life during captivity." The English version of the autobiography is published on September 13 in the UK.
She ate 181 chicken wings in 12 minutes
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| gobbled up nearly 181 chicken wings in 12 minutes |
The Black Widow of eating contests gobbled up nearly 181 chicken wings in 12 minutes, devouring the national championship record in Buffalo on Sunday. "I'm so happy!" said Sonya Thomas, who ate 4.86 pounds of chicken wings to win the contest, besting world eating marvel Joey Chestnut at the ninth annual National Buffalo Wing Festival. Buffalo, about 300 miles northwest of New York, is said to be the birthplace of the wings, typically fried and covered in tangy vinegar and hot sauce. Chestnut, America's No. 1 professional eater, was favored to win Sunday's competition. He came in second after eating 169 chicken wings, or 4.55 pounds. This was the first time Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Chestnut, of San Jose, California, faced off in a chicken wing eating contest.
They went at it "neck and neck," said Drew Cerza, the founder of the festival, which was inspired by the 2001 Bill Murray comedy "Osmosis Jones," about a compulsive eater. "They pushed each other really hard," Cerza said. "Joey is so strong. He's got great jaw strength. But Sonya's so fast with the hand." Thomas, who's 5 feet tall and weights 105 pounds, calls herself the Black Widow because she often defeats bigger male competitors -- Chestnut is 6-foot-2 and weights 230 pounds -- in eating contests. She set the previous wings record in 2005, when she ate 174 in 12 minutes. She also previously set eating records for oysters, hard-boiled eggs, cheesecake and jalapeno peppers. She won her first competitive eating event in 2003. he sprightly 43-year-old said she owed Sunday's triumph to her fancy finger work. "Sometimes if I try to chew too much I slow down," she said. "I used my hands more than the mouth." During the public contest, in front of thousands of people, she twirled the wings in her small fingers while quickly tearing off the meat with her teeth and lips.
Her cheeks were covered in a sheen of orange Buffalo sauce by the end. But she said she was still hungry afterward, calling the wings "an appetizer." About an hour later, she made a guest appearance in the Ridiculously Hot Buffalo Wing Eating Contest and ate 20 more. "The hottest wings!" she said. "I had to drink a lot of water."
They went at it "neck and neck," said Drew Cerza, the founder of the festival, which was inspired by the 2001 Bill Murray comedy "Osmosis Jones," about a compulsive eater. "They pushed each other really hard," Cerza said. "Joey is so strong. He's got great jaw strength. But Sonya's so fast with the hand." Thomas, who's 5 feet tall and weights 105 pounds, calls herself the Black Widow because she often defeats bigger male competitors -- Chestnut is 6-foot-2 and weights 230 pounds -- in eating contests. She set the previous wings record in 2005, when she ate 174 in 12 minutes. She also previously set eating records for oysters, hard-boiled eggs, cheesecake and jalapeno peppers. She won her first competitive eating event in 2003. he sprightly 43-year-old said she owed Sunday's triumph to her fancy finger work. "Sometimes if I try to chew too much I slow down," she said. "I used my hands more than the mouth." During the public contest, in front of thousands of people, she twirled the wings in her small fingers while quickly tearing off the meat with her teeth and lips.
Her cheeks were covered in a sheen of orange Buffalo sauce by the end. But she said she was still hungry afterward, calling the wings "an appetizer." About an hour later, she made a guest appearance in the Ridiculously Hot Buffalo Wing Eating Contest and ate 20 more. "The hottest wings!" she said. "I had to drink a lot of water."
Barack Obama announces $50bn infrastructure plan
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| President Obama: "We used to have the best infrastructure in the world, and we can have it again" |
President Barack Obama has called for a new comprehensive infrastructure plan as part of efforts to jump-start the spluttering US economy. The plan will invest about $50bn (£32.5bn) in roads, railways and airports as well as high-speed rail and the creation of an infrastructure bank. US infrastructure has long been considered underfunded and receives poor grades from government agencies. The move comes amid signs that the US economy is faltering. On Friday, the US Labor Department announced that the US economy had lost a further 54,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.6%, from 9.5% in July. "Over the next six years, we are going to rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads - enough to circle the world six times," Mr Obama told an event in Milwaukee marking the Labor Day holiday in the US. "We're going to lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways - enough to stretch coast-to-coast. We're going to restore 150 miles of runways and advance a next generation air-traffic control system to reduce travel time and delays for American travellers - something I think folks across the political spectrum could agree on."
"All of this will not only create jobs now, but will make our economy run better over the long haul," Mr Obama add. Mr Obama also called for the creation of a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects. The proposals would require congressional approval, which analysts say, is uncertain amid concerns about the size of the federal deficit. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the plan "should be met with justifiable scepticism" because it would raise taxes. The infrastructure announcement marks the start of a week in which Mr Obama will focus on the economy, seen as the most important issue for voters in Novembers congressional elections. On Wednesday the president travels to Cleveland, Ohio, where he is expected to unveil new tax proposals. On Friday he will speak in Washington.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Congo boat safety questioned as 2 unrelated boat capsizes leave 70 dead, 200 feared dead
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| leaving 70 people dead and 200 others feared dead, and both vessels were heavily loaded and operating with few safety measures, officials said Sunday. |
Two boats capsized over the weekend in separate incidents on Congo's vast rivers, leaving 70 people dead and 200 others feared dead, and both vessels were heavily loaded and operating with few safety measures, officials said Sunday. Early on Saturday, a boat on a river in northwest Equateur Province hit a rock and capsized, provincial spokeswoman Ebale Engumba said Sunday. She said more than 70 people are believed dead among 100 estimated passengers. She said officials are investigating why the boat was traveling through the darkness without a light. In a separate incident in Kasai Occidental Province, 200 people were feared dead after a boat loaded with passengers and fuel drums caught fire and capsized in southern Congo, a survivor survivor confirmed the account and said local fishermen refused to help drowning passengers who jumped off the crowded boat. said Sunday. Another The incident in southern Congo would be the deadliest boat accident in the Central African nation this year, and among the worst in Africa this year.
The boats that traverse Congo's rivers are often in poor repair and filled beyond capacity. The industry is not well-regulated and boat operators are known to fill boats to dangerous levels. In the first incident in northwest Congo, Engumba said officials think the boat's lack of lighting was responsible. "We are going to arrest people involved who are in charge of regulating the boat's movement who failed to stop that boat from traveling at night," she said. In the second incident, survivors said the boat was overloaded with people and goods. A local official said two of the boat's crew were arrested but both refused to say how many people were aboard. The official said the passenger manifest apparently vanished in the fire.
Fabrice Muamba, who said he was on the boat when it caught fire Saturday night on the Kasai River, said he thought only 15 of the more than 200 people he thought were aboard were able to swim to safety. He said passengers began to jump overboard when the engine caught fire as it passed the remote village of Mbendayi, some 45 miles (70 kilometers) from the town of Tshikapa, which is north of Congo's border with Angola. Another survivor, a woman named Romaine Mishondo, said the boat was already packed with "hundreds" of passengers when it stopped some 10 minutes before the fire to pick up more people. She said she did not know exactly how many people were aboard, but said the boat was so crowded it reminded her of "a whole market in the village full of people."
But when the fire started and people began jumping overboard, she said nearby fishermen ignored drowning passengers' pleas for help. "Fishermen attacked the boat and started beating passengers with paddles as they were (trying) to loot goods," she said. "The fishermen refused to save passengers, instead taking goods into their pirogues. ... I survived because I hung onto a jerrycan until another vessel passed by the scene and rescued us." Boat owner Mwamba Mwati Nguma Leonard said a survivor and an employee called to tell him the boat caught fire when workers spilled fuel and ignited the engine. "At the moment I am crying after learning my boat caught fire," Leonard said. "I was just told on phone that it was while seamen were putting fuel into the tank that an explosion occurred after the oil touched the vessel's battery."
He said he has asked police to arrest the boat's managers as he believes they employed unskilled workers. But he said he had no further details because he was in Congo's capital, Kinshasa, some 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the scene, and because his employees on the scene did not answer his calls Sunday. "Since I am far away in Kinshasa, I cannot confirm at the moment the exactly what happened," he said. Leonard also confirmed Muamba's account that the boat was carrying many drums full of fuel on its journey through Kasai Occidental Province. Leonard said the boat also was carrying sacks of maize. He said he did not know how many people were aboard.
Francois Madila, an official from the navigation department in the province, said police arrested two crew members and are investigating the incident. Madila said the sailors have not said how many people were aboard and that the passenger list appeared to have disappeared in the fire. Other officials and witnesses in the remote area could not be reached for comment Sunday. The incident is the deadliest of several boating incidents reported this year in Congo. In July, officials said at least 80 people died when a boat ferrying about 200 passengers to Congo's capital capsized after hitting a rock. In May, dozens of people died when an overloaded canoe capsized on a river in eastern Congo. And last November, at least 90 people were killed after a logging boat sank on a lake in Congo. The timber-carrying vessel was not supposed to be carrying passengers. Congo is a vast country of jungles and huge rivers in Central Africa with little more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) of paved road. Many people prefer to take boats even if they do not know how to swim.
Chile miners trapped underground for a month now
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| The families of 33 Chilean miners trapped underground, after a shaft collapsed at the mine in Copiapo, where they were working marked the one month anniversary of their ordeal on Sunday. |
The families of 33 Chilean miners trapped underground, after a shaft collapsed at the mine in Copiapo, where they were working marked the one month anniversary of their ordeal on Sunday. On August 5, a landslide at the gold and copper mine in the Atacama desert caused a tunnel to collapse and entombed the men more than 2,200 feet (67.6 metres) below ground. It took 17 days for rescuers to make their first contact with the miners and find out they were all alive and well. Families have been holding a vigil by camping out close to the mine, sending messages to their loved ones to keep their spirits up. On Saturday they managed to talk via a video link with their relatives below ground. A miner's sister, who is living at the camp, said she got a letter from her brother saying that he's "happy to know that we are here and that it gives them courage."
Alberto Avalos, who has two relatives trapped, Florencio and Renan Avalos Silva, said that he couldn't imagine what they were going through. "It is hard to imagine it, being 700 and something metres underground, being buried down there, a month...yes, things become more complicated," he said. Back up drills were also on site to help dig the vital rescue tunnel. Doctors, psychologists, authorities and relatives have avoided - on purpose - mentioning how many weeks or months the rescue will take in any communication they have had with the trapped miners. Engineers estimated that digging a tunnel big enough to extract the miners could take up to four months if everything goes according to plan.
Alberto Avalos, who has two relatives trapped, Florencio and Renan Avalos Silva, said that he couldn't imagine what they were going through. "It is hard to imagine it, being 700 and something metres underground, being buried down there, a month...yes, things become more complicated," he said. Back up drills were also on site to help dig the vital rescue tunnel. Doctors, psychologists, authorities and relatives have avoided - on purpose - mentioning how many weeks or months the rescue will take in any communication they have had with the trapped miners. Engineers estimated that digging a tunnel big enough to extract the miners could take up to four months if everything goes according to plan.
New Zealand region grappling to recover from powerful quake
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| effects of a powerful earthquake that left buildings in ruins and people scrambling for shelter two days earlier. |
New Zealand's Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury region continued to grapple Monday with the effects of a powerful earthquake that left buildings in ruins and people scrambling for shelter two days earlier. The government has tallied nearly 5,000 claims for damaged properties, while area residents are being asked to boil water and schools are closed for at least two days, authorities said Monday. The New Zealand Earthquake Commission has received 4,857 claims for damage to residential properties, the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said, and is "expecting a significant increase in claims over the next couple of days." Residents of Christchurch and surrounding areas have been told to boil water because sewage lines may be broken or leaking underground, allowing contaminated water to enter the drinking system.
"Health concerns have shifted to public health issues related to water supply," the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said in a statement Monday. Christchurch's main business district was put under a 12-hour curfew overnight curfew with police cordoning off the area to deter looters. Power has been restored to 95 per cent of the area, the government said Monday, but added that "damage is greater than initially thought and restoration times are being extended (two to three days)." The Civil Defence Ministry said that "an extensive number of aftershocks" with a magnitude of up to 5.4 have hit the area since Saturday's 7.1 quake, and that the "likelihood of aftershocks of up to around Magnitude 6 will remain for the next week."
The earthquake struck at 4:35 a.m. Saturday (12:35 p.m. ET Friday), when few people would have been out and about. Police said there was some initial looting activity, but it was quickly brought under control. Roughly 100 people were being treated for minor bumps and cuts after the strong quake, hospital officials said. Two people suffered more serious injuries. No deaths were immediately reported.
The Christchurch Civil Defense Agency called on people to put off all nonessential travel to the area while aftershocks continued to shiver through the land. TVNZ reporter Max Bania described a city and people still in shock from the powerful quake, and shaken by continuing aftershocks. He told CNN that residents described feeling like they were being thrown into a cement mixer during the magnitude 7.0 quake.
"The house felt like it was on wheels, like it was rolling around on marbles," resident Hadlee Wright told CNN's Rick Sanchez. Pictures that Wright took of the city before daybreak showed collapsed buildings and streets littered with bits of brick and rock. The facade of one structure was almost entirely torn off. The Christchurch City Council declared a state of emergency in response to what it called "significant damage," just hours after the earthquake. The order allows authorities to force evacuations and prohibit entry into areas believed unsafe. Officials in Selwyn, a rural district near where the quake region, also declared a state of local emergency. TVNZ reported that the government expects damage to run into the hundreds of millions in rural Canterbury alone.
Heavy rains, landslides kill at least 37 in Guatemala
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| Guatemala have killed at least 37 people, and could claim as many as 100 lives, the country's emergency services agency said Sunday. |
Torrential rains and landslides in Guatemala have killed at least 37 people, and could claim as many as 100 lives, the country's emergency services agency said Sunday. In addition, it reported 30 people were injured and 23 were missing after heavy weekend rains caused hillsides to collapse. President Alvaro Colom declared a national emergency Saturday. He told reporters that authorities closed parts of the Inter-American Highway after rains washed out entire sections of the road and caused at least two accidents over the weekend. The first, near kilometer marker 82, claimed 12 lives when a bus was buried, according to Colom's office.
Landslides also fell at kilometer marker 171, knocking a number of vehicles and a bus off the road. When nearby residents rushed to the scene to help, a second mudslide crashed down on the exact same spot, said the emergency agency. Throughout the country, authorities have recovered 37 bodies but more are expected, officials have said. Thousands of homes, in addition to infrastructure and fields of crops, also were damaged by the heavy rains. Nearly 42,000 people have been affected and more than 10,000 have been evacuated from the area, said emergency spokesman David De Leon Villeda. Nearly 7,000 people are housed in shelters. The torrential downpours come several months after more than 150 people died when Tropical Storm Agatha hit Guatemala in May.
Destruction from that storm was widespread throughout the nation, with mudslides destroying homes and buildings and burying some victims. At least nine rivers had dramatically higher levels and 13 bridges collapsed, Guatemala's emergency services agency said. The May downpours created a sinkhole the size of a street intersection in northern Guatemala City. Residents told CNN that a three-story building and a house fell into the hole.
