Dog buried in mudslide rescued after 18-hour ordeal

A dog was rescued from the rubble of a home after it was flattened by a mudslide in Guatemala last week.



Nicknamed "el Afortunado", which translates to "the lucky one", the dog never gave up hope despite spending more than 18 hours trapped in his subterranean tomb in Joya Grande village. Its incessant barking finally attracted the attention of rescue crews, who filmed the moment el Afortunado was finally dug free.

"We were looking for people and always, always was this faint sound, like a permanent rapping or tapping," crew member Jose Guerdola said. "We assumed it was someone trapped in a cellar who was hitting a pipe. We dug and dug, and we sweated and slaved, and as we got closer we realised it was the barking of a dog.


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"When we broke through to where he was he jumped into our arms and licked our faces." El Afortunado suffered mild shock and dehydration but is on the mend, according to a local vet. It has been placed in the care of an animal shelter for adoption.