excavator

The air thrums with the din of destruction — giant excavators clanking against steel beams, trucks bleating out warning signals as they back into position, green organic material whooshing out of hoses onto finished sites.

More than 100 trucks and excavators and other equipment are working on the highway and more than 1,200 truckloads of debris are being carried away per day, the governor’s office said.

Park director Emmanuel de Merode said work was under way to recover the animals and bury them to prevent further spread, but it was difficult because there were no excavators.

Other heavy construction equipment including excavators and sluice and slurry pumps were brought in, as well as technical experts and "several hundred tons of gravel and earth", the US Army said.

Throughout Friday night and into Saturday morning, drones, sniffer dogs, cranes and excavators were brought in to help with the rescue effort.