SANTA CATARINA PINULA, Guatemala — There was no warning when the waterlogged hillside collapsed, engulfing the neighborhood in the deep gorge below and burying whole families as they slept.

But there had been plenty of warning that such a tragedy could occur. Since 2008, the Guatemalan authorities have issued alerts that the concrete-block settlement of El Cambray II was unsafe.

But the working-class families who had built lives in the neighborhood stayed put.

On Sunday, rescue workers returned for the third day to the site of the mudslide, one of Guatemala’s worst natural disasters in years. With the hope of finding anybody alive all but extinguished, the authorities used heavy machinery to push aside the earth and reach the buried houses dozens of feet below.

The death toll stood at 131, but officials estimated that 300 people were missing from the 125 houses now entombed in mud. For two weeks, there had been constant rain, which had loosened the earth above El Cambray II. Where the Pinula River flows, along the settlement, years of flooding had weakened the homes’ foundations.

Survivors who had spent the previous two days digging frantically with pickaxes for their missing relatives were told they could no longer look. Sergio Cabañas, director of the rescue operation for National Coordination for Disaster Reduction, or Conred, told reporters late Saturday that it was very unlikely that anybody would be found alive.

On Sunday morning, Santa Catarina Pinula, wedged up against one of the richest neighborhoods in Guatemala City, was full. Cars adorned with black bows carried mourners to bury relatives and people dropping off supplies to the survivors.

A hall for community events was set up as a shelter for the survivors rendered homeless. Inside, clowns performed for the children, handing out balloon animals and gifts.

But it was a brief respite against the enormity of the loss.

“We have 185 people here who need help, 35 kids who have lost everything,” said Estuardo García, director of culture and sport for Santa Catarina Pinula’s local government. “Mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, cousins. All their friends.”

Oscar Suruy López, 38, who lost his house, stood outside the hall, stunned as he watched the movement around him. “Fifteen people I knew are gone,” he said. He had been at work when the mudslide struck. Only his father-in-law had been at home, and he managed to escape.

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The coffins of four people killed in a landslide in Guatemala were placed at a cemetery in Santa Catarina Pinula on Sunday. Officials estimated 300 were missing after days of searching.CreditOliver De Ros/Associated Press

But like many here, Mr. López never saw the danger. “It’s a complete lie what they’re saying about it being high risk,” he said. The government “turned up for a couple of days in 2008 or 2009, but they never told us anything and never returned.

“I never thought the rains had the capacity for this,” he said. “We lived with the river for years without problems.”

El Cambray II is far from the only neighborhood to have been built under the threat of a collapse. Conred estimates that as many as half a million Guatemalans may live in communities in the shadow of hillsides at risk of collapse.

The agency’s executive secretary, Alejandro Maldonado, told reporters that officials in Santa Catarina Pinula had been receiving warnings since 2008 that the neighborhood was at risk. Last year, the municipal government had asked for a study on the dangers.

But for many, leaving is not an option.

“I’ve lived in El Cambray for nine years, and we always had fear of the rain, and the river grew a lot,” said Siriaca Cruz López, 47. “There have been landslides before, and we lost our house but we got out. We lived right next to the river.”

As the river rose on Thursday night, the family decided to seek safety. It was a decision that probably saved their lives. But still they will return.

“They told us it was high risk but they didn’t offer us an alternative,” Ms. Cruz said. “We’ll fight for our families because we need a house. This is the second time we’ve lost our house, but we’ll still go back to El Cambray II.”

Officials acknowledged that it would be difficult to stop people from rebuilding.

“The problem will be to move these people, because culturally they will return,” said Carlos Alberto Avalas Ortiz, secretary of a government aid agency. Even if they leave, “they will probably migrate to similar areas and face similar problems,” he said.

“People say Guatemala is insecure because of the violence, but it’s nature, too,” he said. “You never know when something like that can happen.”

Marta Alicia Gutiérrez Martínez, 42, said her family had scrambled clear as they heard the hillside giving way. “I thought the world was ending,” she said. “In one instant, one second, everything changed.”

But she is not going back. “I can’t bear to think how many friends and people we know died,” she said, weeping. “I’m not going back. We need a new life away from this, not just a house.”