The search for a mother and daughter whose car sank into a large sinkhole became a recovery effort Tuesday, three days after they went missing. On Tuesday night, the government said it believed it had placed its geological generation of automobiles at an intensity of about 50 feet.
Mynor Suarez, a geological engineer, said he detected a variation in the metals beneath the surface that they believe is the car. However, it is unclear whether the women were still inside the car.
The Guatemalan government ordered businesses closed within two hundred meters of the hole as dirt and asphalt continued to fall into the well, sending vibrations across the surrounding surface.
Angel Mario Gonzalez, the volunteer firefighter who led the pace of the operation, said last Tuesday that they were running manually with shovels through the back of the hole towards another collapse.
But he said they were now only there to locate their bodies.
“By 6 p. m. , it will have been 72 hours since the incident,” he said. “The chance of locating survivors is zero. “
Felipe Mejía stayed with other relatives about 50 meters from the edge of the abyss, waiting to hear the two missing: his daughter-in-law Olga Emilia Choz, 38, and his granddaughter Mishell Mejía Choz, 15.
He said his son Adolfo Mejia, who was traveling with his wife and daughter, was released from the hospital Monday after two hands were amputated that were injured while seeking to save his daughter.
Mejia said her son may simply not dare to return to the scene. “He can’t. He says he feels bad,” the father said.
“It’s been 3 days now. We don’t need them to stop. We need them dead or alive,” Mejia said. We’re not going to leave until they find them. My circle of relatives is not complete. “
The gap opened Saturday night on the main artery of Villa Nueva, southwest of the capital. Video from the scene showed traffic along a dark rain-soaked street as a vehicle fell into the open gap.
Mejia’s circle of relatives returning from a local market where they sold clothes. Days of torrential rains in the region caused landslides and flooding.
In total, two cars fell into the abyss. Four other people were immediately rescued, but there was no sign of Choz and her daughter. Rescuers descended ladders and a crane, steel detectors and a search dog in hopes of locating them.
In 2010, an almost perfectly circular chasm swallowed an entire intersection in Guatemala City, but there were no deaths or injuries.