Rescuers with hand tools struggled on Sunday to find the remains of up to 1,400 Maya Indians killed by a landslide in a Guatemalan village that was likely to be left as a muddy mass grave, Reuters reported. A small group of firefighters poked long poles into the brown mud that blanketed Panabaj in search of victims but feared sinking into the quagmire themselves. "It is very difficult. Most of the people are where the mud is thickest and we haven't been able to work there because of the danger," said firefighter Max Chiquito. Stan's rains sent an avalanche of mud, rocks and trees crashed down a volcano's slopes and into Panabaj as residents slept early on Wednesday, covering it in mud up to 40 feet (12 meters) deep in places. Rescue workers did not reach the area until Friday and might have to abandon their search under a Guatemalan law that for health reasons in the tropics puts a 72-hour limit on finding the dead. Maya Indians traditionally place great importance on giving the dead a proper ritual burial but with heavy machines unable to reach Panabaj through mud-covered roads, emergency services looked likely to abandon the search and leave a mass grave. --more 2336 Local Time 2036 GMT
