Seven people were found dead by aid forces on Thursday after 12 hours of digging inside an abandoned house located north of Guatemala City, in the 18th district. The Municipal Fire Service spokesperson said the excavation occurred in a disused dwelling within a settlement of the capital’s metropolitan area, one of the most crime-ridden zones in the region.
According to the spokesperson, rescuers arrived to recover an apparently buried body from one room of the ground floor. He noted that authorities instructed them to continue breaking through the floor, as there was a possibility of additional remains nearby. He confirmed that seven bodies were recovered by nightfall, with genders and identities not yet known, some wrapped in sheets and others in plastic.
The relief team spent about 12 hours working at the site, though further details about the origins of the deceased were not provided. The residence where the bodies were found is currently unoccupied.
From 2010 to 2020, Guatemala experienced more than 60,000 violent deaths linked to gang activity, drug trafficking, and other forms of crime, according to humanitarian groups. Those figures place Guatemala among the world’s most violent countries in international assessments. For the year to date, Guatemalan forensic statistics show 3,947 violent deaths in the first 11 months, a 6.2% rise from the previous year. These numbers reflect ongoing concerns about security in the country and the region, as reported by public safety and humanitarian observers. (Attribution: humanitarian organizations and national forensic offices)