Hundreds Missing, Feared Dead in Massive Philippines Mudslide
A massive mudslide in the eastern Philippines swept away hundreds of houses and schools on Friday with a death toll of at least 23 and 1,500 people missing and feared dead.
A massive mudslide in the eastern Philippines swept away hundreds of houses and schools on Friday with a death toll of at least 23 and 1,500 people missing and feared dead.
The farming village of Guinsaugon on Leyete island, 420 miles southeast of Manila, was “virtually wiped out” by a rain-soaked mountainside that broke into a wall of mud, the Associated Press reported.
"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio DZMM according to AP. "I could not see any house standing anymore."
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The village had some 2,500 people before the disaster.
"There are no signs of life, no rooftops, no nothing," said Southern Leyte province Gov. Rosette Lerias, as reported by AP.
In addition to Guinsaugon, two other villages were affected and about 3,000 evacuees where at a municipal hall.
Survivors blame illegal logging as a factor in the mudslide.
The area also experienced a small earthquake that scientists say occurred after the landslide but is likely unrelated, reported AP. Flash floods also occurred during the rescue projects and caused a second landslide.
"Let us all pray for those who perished and were affected by this tragedy," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said.
In November 1991, about 6,000 people were killed on Leyete in floods and landslides caused by a tropical storm. More recently, in Dececember 2004, more than 1060 people died in floods and mudslides.
