this was the moment in which they removed the vehicle and located the bodies of mother and daughter
After five days of work, rescuers extracted the vehicle that fell into the sinkhole that formed on the Concepción road, between 4th. and 5th. streets of zone 6 of Villa Nueva, and recovered the bodies of Olga Emilia Choz Ulin, 38, and her daughter, Hellen Michelle Mejía Choz, 15.
The vehicle was extracted from a depth of more than 30 meters from the sinking, according to the authorities.
Last Tuesday, September 27, President Alejandro Giammattei confirmed the location of the vehicle, which was achieved thanks to the use of geological exploration equipment, and from that moment rescuers, soldiers and members of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) work on the search tasks.
It was this Thursday, September 29, that the Villa Nueva commune reported that the rescue teams located the vehicle; however, bringing it to the surface was a difficult task. At first it was doubted that the women were in the unit, because on the day of the tragedy they were traveling with Adolfo Mejía Itzep, husband and father of the two victims, who managed to get to safety.
To extract the vehicle it was necessary to widen the sinking area and form a kind of ramp and then, with the support of a hydraulic crane and a backhoe, bring it to the surface.
The car was with the tires up and at first glance serious damage to its structure can be seen. which were caused by being buried.
Rescuers used hydraulic equipment to Cut the car doors and thus locate the bodies of the victims.
The street where the two women were walking disintegrated last saturday due to rains and the vehicle in which they were transported fell into an abyss, according to various sources.
Minutes after the first car crashed on Saturday night, another vehicle also plunged into the ravine and after a few hours four people were rescued, three of them wounded.
for rescue tasks trained dogs were used.
Last June, a similar sinking occurred a few kilometers away, on the main highway that leads from Guatemala City to the Pacific Ocean.
The Guatemalan president, Alejandro Giammattei, expressed himself through his social networks on Saturday about the tragedy, regretting what happened and showing solidarity “deeply with those affected”.
Relief Corps and the Guatemalan Army they worked with a special team from Saturday September 25 to locate the vehicle, But hopes of finding the two women alive have faded for several days.
The specific origin of the collapse is unknown, but various sources suggest that the excessive rainfall in recent weeks, added to the lack of maintenance of the underground water collectors, caused the tragedy.
The relatives of the deceased women remained in the place since Saturday and they assured journalists that they would transfer the victims to Totonicapán, where they will be veiled and buried.
At least 45 people have died due to the rainy season (from May to October) in Guatemala this year, according to Conred herself.
