Mudslide in Guatemala leaves more than 374 dead or missing

As many as forty people are still believed to be missing following the deadly mudslides outside the city of Guatemala in which 264 people have lost their lives as revealed by latest figure of the tolls. This has been indicated by a spokesman for search and rescue workers and reported in zeenews.india.com dated 11 October 2015.
The official number of people missing has been revised upwards to 374.

The disaster had taken place on October 1 in the town of Santa Catarina Pinula which is located approximately 15 kilometers (nine miles) east of Guatemala City. As a result of the mudslide, nearly 200 dwellings have been leveled.
As per report in bbc.com dated 9 October 2015 - an official investigation has been undertaken to find out why houses were built in El Cambray 2 neighborhood in spite of warnings of a possible accident. The National Disaster Reduction Commission (Conred) of Guatemala had warned as early as 2009 that there was a risk of collapse.
Incidentally, the middle-class neighborhood was built at the bottom of a steep hillside next to a river, some 15-Km east of Guatemala City.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Mexican drug lord escapes from prison through a 1.5-Km long tunnel

Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, known as El Chapo or "Shorty", has made good his escaped from a high security prison by making use of a 1.5-Km long tunnel. The escape route from Altiplano jail had ventilation and stairs, as revealed by the national security commissioner.
This has been reported in bbc.com dated 12 July 2015.

A total of eighteen guards are being questioned and a manhunt has been launched. Flights have also been suspended at a nearby Toluca airport. The wealth of Guzman is estimated at $1bn.
Joaquin Guzman was last seen in the showers of the jail on Saturday and this was, apparently, the second time he had escaped from a top security prison. He had earlier broke out of prison in 2001 by concealing himself in a laundry basket after bribing prison officials.
He was serving a sentence of more than 20 years after being arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and, his recapture in 2014 was hailed as a victory for the government of Mexico.
The daring escape was discovered when officers checked his cell in the jail, which is near the capital, Mexico City. They discovered a hole around 10m (32ft) deep with a ladder, which led to the tunnel. The tunnel ended at a construction site outside the prison walls.
A motorcycle was also discovered, which might have been used to transport tools and remove earth from the space.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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