GUATEMALA CITY — (AP) — The search for a mother and daughter whose car plunged into a giant cesspool turned into a recovery effort Tuesday, three days after they disappeared.
Late Tuesday, authorities said they believed they used geological techniques to find their car at a depth of about 50 feet.
Mino Suarez, an engineer specializing in geology, said they detected changes in the metal beneath what they believed to be the car’s surface. However, it is unclear if the women are still in the car.
As mud and asphalt continued to fall into the pit, Guatemalan authorities ordered businesses within 200 yards (meters) of the pothole to be closed, sometimes creating vibrations on surrounding surfaces.
Angel Mario Gonzalez, head of the volunteer firefighters in charge of the operation, said earlier Tuesday that they were working manually at the bottom of the hole with shovels to avoid further collapses.
But he said they were just trying to find their bodies now.
“By 6 p.m., 72 hours had passed since the incident,” he said. “There is zero chance of finding survivors.”
Felipe Mejía and other relatives stood about 50 yards from the edge of the sinkhole, hoping to hear about the two missing women — his daughter-in-law Olga Emilia Choz, 38, and granddaughter Mishell Mejía Choz, 15.
He said his son Adolfo Mejia, who was riding a horse with his wife and daughter, had two fingers amputated while trying to rescue his daughter and was released from hospital on Monday.
Mejia said his son could not bring himself back to the scene. “He couldn’t. He said he felt bad,” the father said.
“It’s been three days. We don’t want them to stop. We want them to live or die,” Mejia said. “We won’t leave until they are found. My family is not complete.”
The hole opened on Saturday night on the new villa main road southwest of the capital. Video from the scene showed traffic driving down a dark, rain-soaked street when a car slammed into the hole.
The Mejia family was on their way home from a local clothes market. Days of torrential rain in the area caused landslides and flooding.
A total of two vehicles fell into the cesspool. The four were rescued immediately, but there was no trace of Joz or her daughter. Rescuers descended via ladders and cranes, using metal detectors and search dogs in hopes of finding them.
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