"Regional authorities declared a state of emergency in the disaster area" around the village of Chichicaste, some 270 kilometers (170 miles) west of Guatemala City, disaster relief spokeswoman Luz Emilia Gonzalez told AFP.

"That category means we are raising the alert to the maximum, allowing use of all means at our disposal in the region," she said.

Officials said the dawn mudslide was triggered on a hillside, apparently by a series of minor earth tremors that dislodged accumulations of wet, packed earth clinging to the hillside.

Disaster relief director Alejandro Maldonado said contingency plans were already in place before the slide and that two helicopters were immediately dispatched to the disaster area, one with specialized evaluation and rescue personnel, the other with emergency food and water supplies.

He said two trucks had also been dispatched with blankets and enough food to last a week.

"The sad thing is that (the area) had been declared a 'high risk' area in September," after heavy flooding in the foothills of the Toliman volcano left 32 dead and four missing, he said.

"At four in the morning (1000 GMT), there was a tremendous noise," and three families were now missing and believed to be buried in the mud, Emilio Miranda, who lives in Chichicaste, told a local radio station.

"Three houses were buried. Ten people lived in the first house, nine lived in the second and two elderly people were in the third house," Miranda said.

Another area resident told the radio station that the mudslide completely buried three homes, but said he did not know whether the people inside had escaped or were buried along with their residences.

"Only God knows," he said, adding that firefighters were searching the mud for the missing. The village has some 94 inhabitants.

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