In Brief | Nation & World | 10-5-15

Hope dims for finding survivors of deadly Guatemala mudslide

SANTA CATARINA PINULA, Guatemala — Hope faded Sunday for finding any survivors of a mudslide that killed at least 114 people as the smell of rotting bodies spread across the enormous mound of earth and rescuers reported the buried dwellings they reached were filled with water, suggesting anyone trapped inside would have drowned.

Rescue workers on Sunday pulled more corpses from the mound created when a hillside collapsed and covered about 4 acres with mud and dirt as deep as 15 yards.

An improvised morgue at the scene has now processed 114 bodies, 82 of which have been identified and handed over to relatives, said municipal medical examiner Dr. Carlos Augusto Rodas Gonzalez.

However, other bodies, some of which were found in pieces, remain unidentified.

Afghanistan, US vow to investigate hospital bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. and Afghan governments vowed Sunday to jointly investigate the attack on a hospital in Kunduz that killed 22 people, as street-by-street battles continued between government forces and Taliban fighters and officials warned of a looming humanitarian crisis for civilians trapped in the city

Amid accusations that U.S. jet fighters were responsible for what Doctors Without Borders said was a “sustained bombing” of their trauma center in Kunduz, President Barack Obama and Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani promised investigations. Obama said he expected a full accounting of the circumstances surrounding the bombing, and that he would wait for those results before making a judgment. He said the U.S. would continue working with Afghanistan’s government and its overseas partners to promote security in Afghanistan.

By wire sources