Thirteen bodies had been recovered since a hillside came crashing on the remote gold prospecting town Sunday.

"We estimate about 300 or 400 people are buried there," said Defense Minister Freddy Teodovic.

Authorities say about 40 percent of the town was covered by the mudslide, including a public market and a bus terminal.

Because of difficult access, help has been slow in coming to the northern Bolivian town, and an excavator is the only piece of heavy machinery deployed in the search.

Residents used their bare hands, picks and shovels to dig through the mud, much the same way they do when prospecting for gold in the hill that dominates the city of 3,000.

French and Spanish rescue teams, with search dogs and specialized equipment, were expected to join the efforts, but hopes of finding further survivors were fading fast.

About 100 soldiers, who lack training for this kind of mission, have been deployed to assist in the search.

Rescue and relief operations should speed up once a regular air bridge, using a military Hercules C-130 and four helicopters, is set up.

Poor weather had earlier prevented helicopters or airplanes to reach the remote northern town.

Heavy equipment and trucks were also expected to arrive Wednesday after a 15 hour slog along a treacherous, narrow road from the capital La Paz, 250 kilometers (160 miles) away.

Located in Bolivia's subtropical lowlands, Chima is so small that most maps do not show it.

The town sits on the side of a 300-meter (1,000-foot) hill which was hard hit by heavy rains late last week, causing the hillside to come crashing down onto the town.

The hill is pocked with excavations made by small-scale gold diggers, who often use dynamite to blast into the ground, leaving it especially prone to landslides.

The disaster was the worst in memory in Chima, whose full name in the indigenous Aymara language is Chima Jaukata, or "punished place."

For many residents of the town, gold-digging is the only means of survival in a country that ranks poorest in South America.

The landslide cut off telephone links with the capital, and it was not until Monday noon that residents managed to make radio contact with La Paz to request assistance. Many injured were taken to hospital in the nearby town of Tipuani.

SPACE.WIRE