Landslide hits S. Leyte; governor fears many dead
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte -(3RD UPDATE) Rescuers from the Philippine Army and Philippine Air Force rushed to St. Bernard town after landslide hit Barangay (village) Guinsaugon past 10 a.m. on Friday.
St. Bernard Mayor Maria Lim said she did not know yet the extent of the damage or the number of casualties because the village was not accessible as of the moment.
Lim said there was an earthquake before the soil, mud and boulders cascaded from the mountain called Can-abag.
"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio dzMM. "I could not see any house standing anymore."
Governor Rosette Lerias said initial reports showed that four bodies had been recovered. But she feared that several more had been killed because the entire village with a population of 2,000 had been affected by the landslide.
She told Manila-based radio dzBB that 500 houses were feared buried after nonstop rains for two weeks.
"The ground has really been soaked because of the rain," Lerias said. "The trees were sliding down upright with the mud."
Lerias said she feared the safety of the pupils in Guinsaugon Elementary School because she received reports that the school was affected by the landslide.
Provincial board member Eva Tomol said in an Associated Press report that only three houses remained standing in the village.
The governor immediately called the assistance from the Philippine Air Force based in Mactan Cebu and the Army troops in the 43rd IB in Sogod to conduct a search and rescue operation.
Guinsaugon is a mountain barangay, which is seven kilometers away from the town proper.
In November 1991, about 6,000 people were killed on central Leyte island in floods and landslides triggered by a tropical storm.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A landslide rumbled down a mountainside on eastern Leyte island Friday, burying hundreds of houses and a school packed with elementary students. Red Cross officials estimated 200 dead and 1,500 missing.
"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio DZMM. "I could not see any house standing anymore."
Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said an entire village appeared to have been buried, with perhaps 200 dead and 1,500 missing.
"There is no body count yet, it's our estimate," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Geneva. "We're mobilizing rescue operations. This areas is infamous for landslides."