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Sunday, February 19, 2006


   TRAGIC NEWS FROM THE PHILIPPINES: LANDSLIDE BURIES ALIVE 1000+
Philippine Rescue Crews Hope for Miracle
By HRVOJE HRANJSKI, Associated Press Writer

GUINSAUGON, Philippines - Hoping for a miracle, rescue workers in the Philippines continued searching for survivors Sunday in an elementary school swamped by a landslide that buried this town and killed some 1,800 people.

No survivors have been found since Friday, however, and reports that students and teachers sent cell phone text messages from inside went unconfirmed, leaving the search effort dispirited and empty-handed.

Teams on Sunday were also digging around the site of the village hall, where about 300 people had been attending a women's conference when the slide buried Guinsaugon.

Fearing more landslides, 11 villages were evacuated as U.S. military ships steamed to the scene. A team of up to 30 U.S. Marines based in Okinawa, Japan, was already at the site. Three U.S. military Chinook helicopters landed near the disaster area as the American military prepared to ferry in troops and supplies.

Police dogs arrived in the sunshine on Sunday after days of constant rain that raised fears of more landslides and hampered efforts to rescue any survivors. Still, low clouds and thin mist suggested that rain could return.

Rescue workers had been warned to tread carefully or risk becoming casualties themselves as the uneasy mud settled.

The landslide on Friday, which followed two weeks of heavy rains, was believed to have killed nearly every man, woman and child in the farming village of Guinsaugon, which was covered with mud up to 30 feet deep. With entire families wiped out, officials were talking about a mass burial for unclaimed bodies.

The situation was so delicate that a no-fly zone was established over the area out of concern that blasts of air from the helicopters' rotors could send the mud oozing again in Guinsaugon, about 400 miles southeast of the capital, Manila.

Medical supplies and excavation equipment were reaching the area on Leyte island, and U.S. military ships were expected later Sunday with 1,000 Marines. But with no survivors found Saturday, it appeared the operation would be recovery instead of relief.

Only 57 people were plucked from the mud Friday from Guinsaugon's population of 1,857. At least 68 bodies were recovered — including 12 on Sunday.

Officials had suspended the search operation after dark Saturday, with the footing too dangerous and no floodlights available to illuminate the massive mud field, which was surrounded by a shallow stream.

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This is the second time this month that I am posting a tragic event in the Philippines here in myO. (The first being the Wowowee stampede)

At first, it didn't really shock me that much since something like this happened before. But after seeing the aftermath of the tragedy, I was horrified. I can't believe a small community is now covered under 30 feet of mud and thousands have been buried alive as we speak.

Now, I would like to ask you to offer your prayers to this tragedy. May the living victims be rescued immediately, may those who died rest in peace, may the weather improve to help the rescuers, and may the rescuers get the strength to recover the victims.

Let's also hope for a miracle. It has been 3 days since this happened, and only 57 were found alive. Let's hope that there'll still be more people rescued alive.

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EDIT: As of the latest, 400+ people have already been rescued while 85+ have died and over 1,300 are still missing. Keep those prayers coming.

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