About 200 people were believed killed and 1 500 others were missing in the central Philippines on Friday when an entire village was buried in a landslide, 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 chairperson of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordon.
Local officials said the disaster happened at about 10.45am local time.
Civil defence 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.
Leyte Congressman Roger Mercado said in a radio interview that the village had a population of 3 000 to 4 000, and expressed fears that as many as 2 000 had been buried by the landslide.
Government radio said 45 people had been rescued from the mud so far.
Eyewitnesses from the scene said only a few houses were still standing among the hundreds that were once there after the landslide from the neighbouring mountain.
President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesperson 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.
The head of the military rescue team, Colonel Nestor Sadirin, said helicopters were ready to be dispatched to the area but that cloudy weather was preventing them from going there.
Gordon said the Red Cross was trying to dispatch sniffer dogs to the area to attempt to find any survivors.
Heavy rains had been battering the area for about 10 days. More than 20 people were killed in landslides earlier in the week on the island.
The head of the government vulcanology office, Rene Solidum confirmed a mild earthquake, measuring 2,6 on the Richter scale, had hit the southern part of Leyte at about 10.36am.
But it is not believed the tremor itself had been enough to trigger a landslide, he said, adding that heavy rainfall was the likely cause.
”The area could have really been ready for a landslide because of the amount of rainfall, and if there was a minor earthquake, it might have hastened it,” Solidum said.
Leyte Governor Rosete Lerias said in radio and television interviews that many of the people in the affected area had been evacuated due to the ongoing bad weather, but had returned to their homes on Friday after signs that the sun was coming out.
She described the village as totally flattened.
Television reports said roads had also been washed out, hampering travel to the village.
Provincial board member Eva Dumol said in a radio interview that heavy equipment that was already in the area to clear up earlier landslides was being sent to move the mountains of earth and rescue any survivors.
However, Lerias said the mud in the area was still so soft that heavy equipment could not be brought in to rescue people. — AFP
