Rescue Workers Struggle to Find Survivors of Giant Philippines Mudslide

|PIC1|Hopes are fading of finding anymore survivors of the huge landslide in the southern Leyte province of the Philippines.

One village, Guinsaugon, was completely destroyed when heavy rain sent tonnes of mud and rocks hurtling down upon the village buildings, including a school packed with 200 hundred staff, children and their mothers.

Although a text message was received from the head teacher buried within the school, hopes are fading of finding survivors. As the rescue operation continued, reports were coming in that no one alive had been found on Saturday so far.

"We had 30 villages before, now we only have 29. One was removed from the map," said Eulogio Dala, municipal assessor of the district which covers Guinsaugon.

"They're not finding anyone alive anymore."

Figures for the missing and dead continue to vary greatly, with some local officials estimating the number of missing as up to 3,000.

|TOP|Adriano Fuego, director of civil defence operations in the area hit by the mudslide, told the AFP that 1,420 were missing, with 117 survivors and 23 bodies recovered so far.

Different figures were released by provincial governor Rosette Lerias, on ABS-CBN television, which put the death toll at 35.

The UN has already sent a disaster assessment team to the area where 11 other villages have been evacuated over fears of further mudslides.

The Red Cross has also despatched a plane carrying basic supplies and body bags to the area, the BBC reported. It has also launched an emergency appeal for donations to provide tents, blankets, medicines and other supplies to the survivors.

"We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst," Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon said.

|AD|"I'm still hoping we can get some of these people out alive."

Two US warships, the USS Essex and the USS Harper’s Ferry, are due to reach Southern Leyte in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to US charge d’affaires Paul Jones, who added that the US had given $100,000 worth of disaster equipment to contribute toward the relief effort.

"Let us all pray for those who perished and were affected by this tragedy," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said.

The Caritas network has launched a press release saying that it is "monitoring the disaster that overwhelmed a rural area in the Philippines."

“Our prayers are with the people of Leyte island and the Philippines as the scope of this tragedy continues to unfold,” said Duncan MacLaren, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis.

“We also wish to assure NASSA-Caritas Philippines of our solidarity and support in responding to the tragedy, especially the victims. Please let us know as soon as possible how we can help,” he said.

Caritas Philippines has reported that it is on the ground to help in the relief effort and to funnel international aid to the local people.

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.