GUATEMALA CITY – Three people are dead following the collapse of a massive slope of trash at a garbage dump in Guatemala City.
Recent rains may have contributed to garbage-slides at the dump. About 10 people were taken for medical treatment after the collapse on Wednesday, which also partly buried a garbage truck.
Volunteer fire department spokesman William Gonzalez said the dead included two men and a woman. The dead are believed to be garbage-pickers known as “guajeros” who search through the trash looking for recyclable material.
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Authorities said that about 1,000 people worked in that area of the dump and that they had been asked to evacuate, but some had refused.
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