Death toll in Guatemala mudslide reaches 253

Around 40 families still living in the area have been given official notice that they must leave.

They say there is a risk of another landslide hitting the area, near the capital, Guatemala City.

In another report, national disaster agency Conred said Thursday that the death toll rose to 220 bodies while a few 350 were still missing.

The middle-class neighbourhood was built at the bottom of a steep hillside next to a river, a few 15km (nine miles) east of Guatemala City. Leading up to the tragedy, municipal authorities had urged the community to relocate several times, most recently in November a year ago. Almost 400 people were still missing Friday.

“What we know is that people were conscious about the risk they were taking”, Manuel Pocasangre, the communications director for the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.

Search and rescue efforts will continue through the weekend, but on Monday officials will meet to decide how much longer to continue the operation, Deputy Public Health Minister Israel Lemus said.

The local school building is now being used as a shelter for a few 400 people left homeless.