by UPI WireFeb 17, 2006
MANILA, Philippines - Feb. 17, 2006 (UPI) -- A road blocked by mud and debris complicated search and rescue operations following a deadly mudslide on the Philippines island of Leyte.
About 1,500 people were still missing as night fell on Friday, slowing the rescue.
Hundreds of houses and an elementary school in St. Bernard were buried, the Manila Times reported. Three villages in St. Bernard, Guinsajogon, Sugangon and Kabakan, were the hardest hit in the area 420 miles southeast of Manila.
Mud and debris blocked the road into St. Bernard. President Gloria Arroyo ordered naval vessels to the area to take supplies and medical workers and to serve as a floating hospital.
Officials say that two weeks of torrential rain triggered the mudslides. Some villagers had moved away temporarily and then returned because the rains eased.
Nenita Camarin, a survivor of the slide, told the Philippine Star that the Earth shook before the mud came crashing into her village.
Governor Rosette Lerias told the BBC that only one teacher and one student from the elementary school had been saved.
"There are no signs of life ... no nothing," she said.
Copyright 2006 United Press International
MANILA, Philippines - Feb. 17, 2006 (UPI) -- A road blocked by mud and debris complicated search and rescue operations following a deadly mudslide on the Philippines island of Leyte.
About 1,500 people were still missing as night fell on Friday, slowing the rescue.
Hundreds of houses and an elementary school in St. Bernard were buried, the Manila Times reported. Three villages in St. Bernard, Guinsajogon, Sugangon and Kabakan, were the hardest hit in the area 420 miles southeast of Manila.
Mud and debris blocked the road into St. Bernard. President Gloria Arroyo ordered naval vessels to the area to take supplies and medical workers and to serve as a floating hospital.
Officials say that two weeks of torrential rain triggered the mudslides. Some villagers had moved away temporarily and then returned because the rains eased.
Nenita Camarin, a survivor of the slide, told the Philippine Star that the Earth shook before the mud came crashing into her village.
Governor Rosette Lerias told the BBC that only one teacher and one student from the elementary school had been saved.
"There are no signs of life ... no nothing," she said.
Copyright 2006 United Press International
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