Post by Mads on Feb 17, 2006 18:27:03 GMT -5
Philippines Landslide Deaths May Top 1,500
Officials Fear Death Toll in Philippines Landslide Could Climb Past 1,500 People
Massive Landslide in Philippines
By PAUL ALEXANDER (www.abcnews.go.com)
MANILA, Philippines Feb 17, 2006 (AP)— The farming village is gone, swallowed whole by a wall of mud and boulders that swept down with terrifying speed Friday from a mountainside in the eastern Philippines. Officials feared the death toll could climb past 1,500.
"There are no signs of life, no rooftops, no nothing," Southern Leyte province Gov. Rosette Lerias said.
The village of Guinsaugon, once a community of 2,500 people, now looks like a 100-acre patch of newly plowed land.
Its 375 homes and elementary school were buried under mud up to 30 feet deep. Only a few small piles of debris hint at the devastation. Only a few jumbles of corrugated steel sheeting indicate Guinsaugon ever existed.
The official death toll stood at 23 after darkness forced suspension of rescue efforts, hours after the morning landslide. But the Philippine Red Cross estimated at least 200 dead and 1,500 missing. Significantly, only 53 survivors were plucked from the brown morass on Leyte island, 420 miles southeast of Manila.
"Our village is gone, everything was buried in mud," said survivor Eugene Pilo, who lost his family. "All the people are gone."
"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," added fellow survivor Dario Libatan, who lost his wife and three children. "I could not see any house standing anymore."
Rescue workers were hampered by the thick, soft mud that remained unstable, along with flash floods spawned by two weeks of downpours blamed on the La Nina weather phenomenon that dumped 27 inches of rain on the area.
The governor asked for people to dig by hand, saying the mud was too soft for heavy equipment.
"I have a glimmer of hope, based on the rule of thumb within 24 hours you can still find survivors," Lerias said. "After that, you move on to the recovery phase, but right now it's still rescue mode."
A second, minor landslide added to volunteers' jitters, and a helicopter pilot said the ground near the top of the mountain was still moving in late afternoon.
Officials Fear Death Toll in Philippines Landslide Could Climb Past 1,500 People
Massive Landslide in Philippines
By PAUL ALEXANDER (www.abcnews.go.com)
MANILA, Philippines Feb 17, 2006 (AP)— The farming village is gone, swallowed whole by a wall of mud and boulders that swept down with terrifying speed Friday from a mountainside in the eastern Philippines. Officials feared the death toll could climb past 1,500.
"There are no signs of life, no rooftops, no nothing," Southern Leyte province Gov. Rosette Lerias said.
The village of Guinsaugon, once a community of 2,500 people, now looks like a 100-acre patch of newly plowed land.
Its 375 homes and elementary school were buried under mud up to 30 feet deep. Only a few small piles of debris hint at the devastation. Only a few jumbles of corrugated steel sheeting indicate Guinsaugon ever existed.
The official death toll stood at 23 after darkness forced suspension of rescue efforts, hours after the morning landslide. But the Philippine Red Cross estimated at least 200 dead and 1,500 missing. Significantly, only 53 survivors were plucked from the brown morass on Leyte island, 420 miles southeast of Manila.
"Our village is gone, everything was buried in mud," said survivor Eugene Pilo, who lost his family. "All the people are gone."
"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," added fellow survivor Dario Libatan, who lost his wife and three children. "I could not see any house standing anymore."
Rescue workers were hampered by the thick, soft mud that remained unstable, along with flash floods spawned by two weeks of downpours blamed on the La Nina weather phenomenon that dumped 27 inches of rain on the area.
The governor asked for people to dig by hand, saying the mud was too soft for heavy equipment.
"I have a glimmer of hope, based on the rule of thumb within 24 hours you can still find survivors," Lerias said. "After that, you move on to the recovery phase, but right now it's still rescue mode."
A second, minor landslide added to volunteers' jitters, and a helicopter pilot said the ground near the top of the mountain was still moving in late afternoon.