200 dead, 1,500 missing as Philippine village buried in landslide (AFP)

[Up2Late]

(Info still coming in)

200 dead, 1,500 missing as Philippine village buried in landslide

17/02/2006 06h33

TACLOBAN, Philippines (AFP) - About 200 people were believed killed and 1,500 were 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. Local officials said the disaster happened at about 10:45 am (0245 GMT).

Civil defense officials said only four bodies had been recovered so far, but the full extent of the incident was not immediately clear as it was difficult to reach the village. Radio reports from the scene said only a few houses were still standing among the hundreds that were once there.

President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said rescue and relief teams were being rushed to the scene, adding he hoped the private sector would contribute to the relief effort.

(more at link below)

<http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/060217063355.1ef3a7rb.html>

[fed-up]

1. Wash Post say 2,000 feared dead ;(

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/17/AR2006021700095_pf.html

Many feared dead in Philippine mudslide
By Dolly Aglay
Reuters
Friday, February 17, 2006; 1:34 AM

MANILA (Reuters) - Mudslides triggered by heavy rains buried two villages in the central Philippines on Friday, killing at least four people and raising fears of a far higher death toll, officials and witnesses said.

Congressman Roger Mercado told Reuters that as many as 2,000 people might have died, according to estimates by local officials.

The Office of Civil Defense said the 2,000 could refer to those feared missing around Saint Bernard town in Leyte province.

A radio operator at the Emergency and Rescue Foundation, a private group, said there were unconfirmed reports that one area of Saint Bernard was 90 percent under mud, including a school.


...

[bliss_eternal]

2. Horrible--

just saw this on local news report. :(

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. Tragic

My thoughts are with all of those with family in that region.

[Up2Late]

4. Updated link, still not much new though

<http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/060217070712.ezgd3ehf.html>

[Up2Late]

5. New Updated link with more info

<http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/060217081516.23a9d93l.html>

[malaise]

6. I'm watching on BBC

what a tragedy.

[coffeenap]

7. Apparently, according to Rachel on AAR, the US has not yet

sent helicopters--waiting for an "official" request--even though they are screaming for them.

[Up2Late]

10. Haven't you notice, it always takes the incompetents in our government...

...at least 3-5 days to do anything. We should make a list of all the emergencies and problems needing immediate action, and how long it took them to do something.

My guess is they totally ignore this.

[smirkymonkey]

8. What a tragedy!

To think that an entire community could be wiped out in a single instant by the wrath of nature is just horrifying. Maybe I just started paying attention, but it seems to me that is happening more and more just in the last 5 years or so. At least with more frequency.

[meganmonkey]

9. 'No Signs of Life' After Huge Mudslide (AP)

Here's a more in-depth article. This is so sad :(

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5627522,00.html

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A rain-soaked mountainside disintegrated into a torrent of mud in the eastern Philippines on Friday, swallowing hundreds of houses and an elementary school in sludge three stories high. At least 23 bodies were recovered, but 1,500 people were missing and feared dead.

The farming village of Guinsaugon on Leyte island, 420 miles southeast of Manila, was virtually wiped out, with only a few jumbles of corrugated steel sheeting left to show that the community of some 2,500 people ever existed.

``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.''

Southern Leyte province Gov. Rosette Lerias said: ``There are no signs of life, no rooftops, no nothing.''

---more at link---

[Up2Late]

11. Updated Link: Landslide engulfs Phillippine village, 1,700 feared dead

<http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/060217185809.qwxwdsar.html>

Very sad situation.