Mud buries Philippine villages, many feared dead
MANILA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Mudslides triggered by heavy rains buried two villages in central Philippines on Friday, killing at least four people, officials and witnesses said.
Congressman Roger Mercado told Reuters that as many as 2,000 people may have died, according to estimates by local officials.
Didita Kamarenta, who lives on a mountain next to one of the villages in Saint Bernard town in Leyte province, said the earth shook and there was a strong gust of wind.
"I felt mud at my feet. I heard someone outside screaming for help," she said on radio. "All the children, including my two children, are lost. They might have been buried."
Sixteen people were killed earlier this week when heavy rains and flash floods hit southeastern provinces.
The Philippines is lashed by about 20 typhoons each year, including a series of storms in late 2004 that left about 1,800 people dead or missing in provinces northeast of the capital, Manila.
oh no! how horrible! thanks for this.
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AFP) - About 200 people are believed dead and 1,500 missing in the central Philippines when an entire village was buried in a landslide, the head of 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 head of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordon.
Initial reports said there may have been 500 houses in the village.
Civil defense officials said only four bodies had been recovered so far but the full extent of the incident was not immediately clear because it was difficult to reach the scene.
The military said it had dispatched helicopters to the area to survey the disaster and help with rescue efforts.
It's a mountainous but severely logged area in that part of Leyte... a large part of the mountain fell down to the villages....
I heard from a trusted friend that the kids were still inside their classroom when tons of soil from above fell on their school buildings...
I blame the illegal loggers on this mess...
Hope you could pray for them... this is a rural area, obviously with poor population.
WHOA HAL I just got this on my desktop SKY News alert
Prayers from TX