Guatemala landslide 'leaves 600 missing'

More than 600 people are missing after a landslide on the outskirts of the Guatemalan capital, emergency officials say.

The confirmed death toll has risen to 26 but rescuers are continuing to find bodies in the landslide at the town of Santa Carina Pinula, and hundreds are feared dead.

"There are 600 people missing from 125 houses affected," said Alejandro Maldonado, director of the National Disaster Relief Agency.

The mudslide occurred late on Thursday after days of rain.

Witnesses said the steep hillside collapsed and buried the homes.

"There is a mountain of soil over the houses," Fire Department spokesman Raul Hernandez told radio station Emisoras Unidas.