Hundreds of people remained trapped Sunday inside what may become a massive mud tomb in a scenic lake region of Guatemala, four days after Tropical Storm Stan unleashed a devastating mudslide.
Up to 1,400 people were feared to have been buried alive since the early hours of Wednesday, when an avalanche of rock and mud tumbled from the slopes of San Lucas volcano onto the towns of Panajab and Tzanchaj, 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Guatemala City.
Only 71 bodies have been recovered so far, mostly children. The corpses were placed in makeshift wooden coffins and quickly interred.
At least 619 people have been killed in Central America and Mexico since Stan hit the region Tuesday, including 509 in Guatemala alone. The storm also killed 71 people in El Salvador, 28 in Mexico and 11 in Nicaragua, authorities in those countries said.
In this usually touristic region, rescuers - armed only with shovels, picks and hoes to dig out the dead - began showing signs of fatigue, as there was little food and drinking water in the devastated Lake Atitlan area.
Residents of the Mayan region have been co-ordinating the relief and rescue efforts themselves, since the government was still absent as late as Saturday.
Stan slammed ashore as a hurricane in the Mexican state of Veracruz early Tuesday but began pounding northern Central America with rain on October 1, with Guatemala taking the hardest blow.
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has made an impassioned plea for international assistance, estimating agricultural losses at 135 million dollars. But he did not hold out much hope for his compatriots.
"I believe we are in for more unpleasant surprises," Berger said. "Many people remain missing. There have been many mudslides, and many communities remain cut off." The United States, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Canada and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration have pledged help.
Norway's Ambassador Rolf Berg requested a detailed needs assessment to determine how best to help the estimated 1.8 million Guatemalans affected by the storm.
Mexico, meanwhile, launched a vaccination drive amid an outbreak of dengue fever in the storm zone. A quarantine was slapped on the town of Huejutla, in central Hidalgo state, where 180 fell ill.
At least 28 Mexicans were killed by the storm and two million were affected, officials said.
"We will overcome this tragedy. Please be calm. I promise we will rebuild," President Vicente Fox told panicked residents of Huixtlan, just north of the Guatemalan border, where 5,000 people sought refuge in shelters.
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