At least 32 people have now been confirmed dead following a landslide on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital, with rescuers resuming a desperate search for several hundred people believed missing.

Sergio Cabanas, incident commander for the government's disaster reduction office CONRAD, confirmed the new tally on Saturday. He told AFP some 3000 people have been left homeless by mudslide.

The death toll has steadily climbed over the 36 hours since heavy rains triggered the slide and was expected to rise further as search and rescue efforts continue.

On Thursday night, waterlogged earth and debris tore through the village of El Cambray II, in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula, destroying or damaging 125 homes.

At dawn on Saturday, rescue workers, police, soldiers and volunteers began a second day of clawing away at the debris with picks and shovels.

Two firefighters were injured later in the day, when a wall collapsed as they were trying to extract a body from the rubble.

Nearby, relatives of the missing checked in at a makeshift morgue set up next to the buried homes.

"We can't live here anymore," Carlos Hernandez, an electrician who survived the landslide lamented as he stepped between rescuers with his few remaining belongings on his shoulder.

The destruction had been sudden and decisive.

"I went on an errand for my mother and when I returned there was nothing," Carlos Ac, 17, told AFP. He was still waiting for word about his missing mother and seven siblings.

Alex Lopez, 44, called his ex-wife and daughters as soon as he heard of the landslide. "It rang but there was no answer," he told AFP.

On Saturday, he was waiting for the body of his ex-wife and had already been given those of his two daughters, aged 21 and 22, and his two-year-old grandson.
Authorities have said some 600 people remain missing.