Posted on 02/16/2006 10:07:10 PM PST by HAL9000
Landslide in the Philippines: 200 deaths dreaded, 1.500 disappeared
TACLOBAN (the Philippines) - Approximately 200 people would have died and 1.500 ranges disappeared after a landslide which has occurred Friday in the center from the Philippines where a village was entirely swept, indicated the person in charge for the Red Cross Richard Gordon.
The landslide occurred on the central island of Leyte, according to the same source.
Mud buries Philippine villages, many feared dead
MANILA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Mudslides triggered by heavy rains buried two villages in central Philippines on Friday, killing at least four people, officials and witnesses said.
Congressman Roger Mercado told Reuters that as many as 2,000 people may have died, according to estimates by local officials.
Didita Kamarenta, who lives on a mountain next to one of the villages in Saint Bernard town in Leyte province, said the earth shook and there was a strong gust of wind.
"I felt mud at my feet. I heard someone outside screaming for help," she said on radio. "All the children, including my two children, are lost. They might have been buried."
Sixteen people were killed earlier this week when heavy rains and flash floods hit southeastern provinces.
The Philippines is lashed by about 20 typhoons each year, including a series of storms in late 2004 that left about 1,800 people dead or missing in provinces northeast of the capital, Manila.
oh no! how horrible! thanks for this.
Prayers offered up for this sad situation.
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AFP) - About 200 people are believed dead and 1,500 missing in the central Philippines when an entire village was buried in a landslide, the head of the Red Cross said.
The landslide hit the village of Guinsaugon in Saint Bernard town in the southern part of Leyte island, according to the head of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordon.
Initial reports said there may have been 500 houses in the village.
Civil defense officials said only four bodies had been recovered so far but the full extent of the incident was not immediately clear because it was difficult to reach the scene.
The military said it had dispatched helicopters to the area to survey the disaster and help with rescue efforts.
It's a mountainous but severely logged area in that part of Leyte... a large part of the mountain fell down to the villages....
I heard from a trusted friend that the kids were still inside their classroom when tons of soil from above fell on their school buildings...
I blame the illegal loggers on this mess...
Hope you could pray for them... this is a rural area, obviously with poor population.
Landslide hits S. Leyte; governor fears many dead
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte -(3RD UPDATE) Rescuers from the Philippine Army and Philippine Air Force rushed to St. Bernard town after landslide hit Barangay (village) Guinsaugon past 10 a.m. on Friday.
St. Bernard Mayor Maria Lim said she did not know yet the extent of the damage or the number of casualties because the village was not accessible as of the moment.
Lim said there was an earthquake before the soil, mud and boulders cascaded from the mountain called Can-abag.
"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio dzMM. "I could not see any house standing anymore."
Governor Rosette Lerias said initial reports showed that four bodies had been recovered. But she feared that several more had been killed because the entire village with a population of 2,000 had been affected by the landslide.
She told Manila-based radio dzBB that 500 houses were feared buried after nonstop rains for two weeks.
"The ground has really been soaked because of the rain," Lerias said. "The trees were sliding down upright with the mud."
Lerias said she feared the safety of the pupils in Guinsaugon Elementary School because she received reports that the school was affected by the landslide.
Provincial board member Eva Tomol said in an Associated Press report that only three houses remained standing in the village.
The governor immediately called the assistance from the Philippine Air Force based in Mactan Cebu and the Army troops in the 43rd IB in Sogod to conduct a search and rescue operation.
Guinsaugon is a mountain barangay, which is seven kilometers away from the town proper.
In November 1991, about 6,000 people were killed on central Leyte island in floods and landslides triggered by a tropical storm.
WHOA HAL I just got this on my desktop SKY News alert
There goes tech support for Lexmark.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A landslide rumbled down a mountainside on eastern Leyte island Friday, burying hundreds of houses and a school packed with elementary students. Red Cross officials estimated 200 dead and 1,500 missing.
"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio DZMM. "I could not see any house standing anymore."
Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said an entire village appeared to have been buried, with perhaps 200 dead and 1,500 missing.
"There is no body count yet, it's our estimate," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Geneva. "We're mobilizing rescue operations. This areas is infamous for landslides."
Just sent a copy of my post to CNNI. My fighting the good fight is done for today. :)
Obviously if Uncle Sam is instantly involved in the rescue efforts, it will then be derided as meddling-in-the-internal-Fippino-affairs and that the US-is-still-running-the-Philippines-as-if-it-is-still-1946 yada yada.
The anti-Americanism is getting stale after years after years. Can't they think of some more creative anti-American expressions? (Not that I want to see, but rather they are becoming predictable)
Prayers from TX
I was born in the Philippines.
My parents just came home from there after a 3 week visit.
Prayers going out!
Check out Drudge. I swear the picture looks like a mudslide in Alaska. There are icebergs in the water.
What's that all about?
Oops. I get it. The picture is for the ice caps melting. Interesting placement.
I have not seen one blue hat and not one word about the U.N. in this tragedy. Guess there isn't enough money in it for them. However, I have seen American ships and Armed Forces working the area.
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