NEW: Guatemala's Public Ministry says 131 people are dead, hundreds missing after a landslide in El Cambray
The side of a hill crashed down on a village, engulfing homes
CNN
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The death toll from a massive landslide that covered much of a small village in Guatemala continues to rise.
Carefully, the diggers turned up sheet metal roofs, broken walls and the bodies of people trapped in the dirt bulging over much of the Guatemalan village.
By early Sunday, they had recovered nearly 90 bodies of people who died after the side of a towering hill broke loose suddenly and crashed down on the village in the darkness of Thursday night.
Since then, residents and rescuers have shoveled and even burrowed with their hands in search of the hundreds of victims the country’s Public Ministry estimates were inside the dozens of homes that were instantly engulfed by the landslide.
By Sunday evening, the ministry was reporting 131 people were dead and more than 300 still missing.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
Moises Castillo/AP
Search efforts continue for victims of a deadly landslide in Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala, on Monday, October 5. A massive landslide buried much of the El Cambray community near Guatemala City on Thursday, October 1. More than 160 people are dead, and authorities say hundreds remain missing.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
Oliver de Ros/AP
People in Santa Catarina Pinula surround the coffins of four landslide victims on Sunday, October 4.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
Luis Soto/AP
Rescue workers help a woman after she identified two family members at the site of the landslide on Saturday, October 3.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images
Relatives attend the burial of landslide victim Pamela Perez, 17, at a cemetery in Santa Catarina Pinula on October 3.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
Moises Castillo/AP
Neighbors comfort each other as rescue workers continue the search for townspeople on October 3.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
Moises Castillo/AP
Welsar Nazario carries the coffin of his 5-month-old nephew Alezandro Macario, who died in a mudslide, to the Santa Catarina Pinula cemetery on the outskirts of Guatemala City on October 3.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
Luis Soto/AP
A doll and clothing lie in the mud as rescue workers continue to search the site of a mudslide on October 3.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images
The scene of the mudslide in El Cambray, Guatemala on Friday, October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Rescue workers work late into the night on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Municipal firefighters rest during rescue operations on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Rony Pu is rescued on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Army soldiers and rescuers search for victims on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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A rescuer carries the body of a child recovered from the mud and debris on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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A woman stands in the midst of the debris on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Rescuers carry a landslide victim on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Rescue workers fan out around El Cambray village to search for survivors on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Municipal firefighters recover a body from under the debris on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
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Bodies recovered from the debris are seen at a provisional morgue in Santa Catarina Pinula municipality on October 2.
Photos: Landslide in Guatemala
JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images
Volunteers carry aid for people affected by floods and landslides in Santa Catarina Pinula municipality on October 2.
Many people in El Cambray did not heed a warning to evacuate, said Alejandro Maldonado, the national coordinator for disaster reduction. El Cambray is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Guatemala City.
Somber finds
Rain had soaked the village and the forested hills that rise steeply up around it. The town is nestled in a deep valley, leaving little space between the hillside and the homes below to buffer the force of the earth and trees that fell down on them.
The rescuers and villagers formed long bucket lines of up to 100 people to pass away dirt and debris. Some carried out the bodies of neighbors and loved ones, including children.
“We found the two month-old twins, and now we are looking for their mother and sister,” a villager said.
“We only found one of my nieces, in a state that nobody would want to see a family member,” said another.
Many were still waiting for the first body of their loved ones to turn up.
“I have 20 missing family members – my seven brothers, my dad and my brother-in-law” among them, another villager said.
As they tried to salvage what they could from under the dirt to aid them in grieving, the pale gash in the hill left by the landslide gaped down at those digging.
On Saturday, the workers stopped what they were doing briefly and stood still for a moment of silence.
CNN’s Richard Beltran and Nelson Quinones contributed to this report.
