Mudslide buries Filipino village
Friday, February 17, 2006; Posted: 5:17 a.m. EST (10:17 GMT)
Philippines
Relief and Aid Organizations
(CNN) -- A mudslide buried a village in the eastern Philippines Friday, killing an estimated 300 people and leaving another 1,500 missing, a Red Cross spokesman said.
The initial confirmed death toll was just two, with 24 injured, said Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross.
Gordon said the mudslide swept through Guinsahugon village in the municipality of St. Bernard town, a region that has been drenched in recent days by heavy rains and flash flooding.
"One hundred percent of the area is completely covered with mud," he said from Geneva, after having spoken with Red Cross representatives who had arrived on site.
"Of the 300 houses in the area, only three are left that are not covered."
An elementary school with 35 students was also covered in mud.
"From what I saw, the whole mountain had flattened, become one plane," Rosette Larias, provincial governor of Leyte, told CNN.
"Practically the whole (village) is gone," she said after touring the site.
Larias said a policeman told her he watched as the elementary school holding his wife and four children was entombed "in seconds."
She said 36 survivors were being treated at the public health center, and that rescuers were approaching the task from either end of the mudslide.
"We don't have the exact number of body counts yet, but we do know that all those who were in their homes at the time this happened had a very slim chance of getting out."
Though some villagers had been evacuated in anticipation of the flood threat, they had returned to participate in a village celebration, she said.
"Unfortunately, when they got back the mountain caved in on them."
In all, a square kilometer of land has been buried, she said.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said help was on the way. "Hopefully, you will soon be out of harm's way," she said, noting that coast guard and navy ships were ordered to deploy to the area.
Still, the destruction appeared total.
"You don't see any houses any more," Larias said. "I saw only four rooftops that were covered by water; everything else was covered by mud."
She said a small landslide had preceded the mudslide.
Asked whether authorities need heavy equipment to help find survivors, she predicted it would be of no use. "The equipment will be buried in the mud," she said.
Larias said the area had been deluged with more than 20 inches of rain during February, five times the maximum of any previous month.
Gordon said Red Cross personnel had tried to reach U.S. Embassy personnel in order to get heavy-lift helicopters, but had had no luck.
"If anyone from the State Department is listening, they might try and get in touch with them," he told CNN.
Two helicopters and a C-130 cargo plane were preparing to depart Manila's airport for the flooded zone.
The mudslide occurred at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT), said Raul Garganera, who is coordinating rescue efforts for Philippine Disaster Management Services from Manila.
He said he was told by the governor of the area that 500 houses had been submerged beneath the mud.
Two Red Cross teams have been dispatched to the zone, he said.
"Initial reports I got from our chapter administrator is they're doing medical relief work, emergency care and treatment, first aid and giving care to the displaced."
Provincial board member Eva Tomol said only three houses remained standing in the village, which had a population of about 2,500 and is 670 kilometers (420 miles) southeast of Manila.
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