Posted on 02/20/2006 8:18:31 AM PST by freepatriot32
GUINSAUGON, Philippines - High-tech gear detected "signs of life" Monday at the site of an elementary school buried under mud that swept down a hillside soaked by rain in the eastern Philippines, the provincial governor said.
Sounds of scratching and a rhythmic tapping were picked up by seismic sensors and sound-detection gear brought in by U.S. and Malaysian forces, said South Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias. Generator-powered lights were set up to allow teams of rescue workers to dig through the sludge during the night.
"To me, that's more than enough reason to smile and be happy," Lerias said. "The adrenaline is high ... now that we have seen increasing signs of life."
The search for survivors in the farming village of Guinsaugon had focused on the school because of unconfirmed reports that some of the 250-300 children and teachers believed trapped inside may have sent cell phone text messages to relatives soon after Friday's disaster.
No survivors had been found by Monday night, said U.S. Marine Capt. Burrell Parmer, who spoke to Marines at the site. Most of the 1,800 villagers were feared buried under the earth, boulders and trees that thundered down a rain-drenched mountain. A few survivors were pulled out in the first hours after the disaster.
Rescuers said the noises might have come from shifting and settling mud covering the school. But the discovery offered a glimmer of hope to rescuers who had all but abandoned expectations of finding anyone alive.
"We know there's something down there," said U.S. Marine Lt. Richard Neikirk, pointing to a spot under a big boulder, where seismic sensors detected sounds. "The farther down we went, the signals grew stronger."
A Malaysian team using sound-detection gear picked up noises, too.
"We have a sound," said Sahar Yunos of the Malaysia Disaster and Rescue Team. "Knocking, something like that."
Workers were digging in two places. One — where the sounds were heard — is believed to be the original site of the school, close to the mountain that collapsed. The other is 200 yards down the hill, where the landslide could have carried the building.
There was no visible sign of the school, believed to be under some 115 feet of muck. Philippine Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio said teams had dug about half way down.
Dozens of U.S. Marines and Philippine soldiers, along with local miners, were digging in a watery spot, using shovels on the muck and moving it with body bags, while draining the murky fluid with large water bottles.
They deployed nine seismic sensors that can detect vibrations underground. With everyone standing still, one man used a steel bar to hit on a rock several times and waited for any kind of response from beneath the mud.
Four sensors detected some noise or vibration, but the men could not tell what it was. Rescuers radioed for water pumps and floodlights to keep working through the night.
A 15-man Malaysian team using sensor gear called Delsar employed similar techniques. Five Taiwanese, who brought heat-sensing equipment, were also checking for signs of life. A sniffer dog stopped three times at one spot near the digging.
In new international pledges of aid, South Korea said it would send $1 million, and New Zealand promised to give $133,000. Australia offered engineers to help assess the damage.
Rescuers have pulled out 76 bodies, but estimates varied on the number of survivors and people missing. Lerias said Monday that 928 were missing. National disaster officials in Manila said the number of missing was 1,350, including 246 schoolchildren. Official have reported between 20 to 57 survivors. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancies.
The search has been a painstaking process slowed by rain, shifting earth and fears of fresh landslides. Officials discussed turning the farming town of Guinsaugon into a massive cemetery, similar to other Asian areas ravaged by the 2004 tsunami.
Trapped survivors of past landslides or earthquakes have sometimes held out for days, communicating with search parties by calling out or tapping on rocks.
But hopes of finding people alive in Guinsaugon have seemed remote because the village was inundated by a dense wall of mud and rock, making it unlikely that many air pockets would form beneath the sodden surface.
Spain's canine association sent three dogs to join those already at the scene.
With no one left to claim the dead and bodies quickly starting to decompose in the tropical heat, victims were being buried in mass graves.
On Sunday, a Roman Catholic priest sprinkled holy water on 30 bodies laying side by side in a mass grave, some wrapped in bags, others in cheap wooden coffins, then said a prayer through a mask worn to filter out the stench.
The only witnesses were local health officials, the provincial governor, some of her staff and a few nearby residents. None knew the victims.
Two shiploads of U.S. Marines, diverted from joint military exercises elsewhere in the Philippines, joined rescue efforts Sunday. Helicopters ferried men and supplies to the site, and Marines surveyed roads and bridges to see if they could support the weight of heavy military vehicles and equipment.
___
Associated Press reporter Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.
Two U.S. Marines climb up high place during their search and rescue operations for landslide victims Monday, Feb. 20, 2006 in Guinsaugon village, in the island province of Leyte, central Philippines. The U.S. Marines who were diverted from their joint military exercise in Jolo were joined by rescuers from Taiwan and Malaysia. A total 74 bodies were recovered so far but officials estimating those who perished in the landslide to be 1,500 including about 200 school children. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)
Let's keep praying for those buried in the mudslide.
My prayers are with those trapped children. God Bless those Marines.
Can't they get a backhoe in there or something?
from what i understand this is a remote village so it will probably take a while to get any heavy equipment in there and with people alive in there i dont know if they would wanto usea backhoe it could cause more problems in a wet muddy field then it would solve
I wonder how they are getting air under there, and if they're not, how much do they have left?
The ground is too soft to get heavy equipment in. The Marines were building a "road" when I saw the news yesterday, hand carrying rocks, etc. They plan to drill holes down to the school for air as soon as they get in there.
Prayers offered on behalf of those buried. May God give extra strength to the Marines who are working to reach these trapped people.
One hundred and fifteen feet of mud. My God.
}:-)4
My goodness. Urgent prayers for the trapped children and their teachers in that school... and prayers of strength and speed for the Marines and rescuers!
Hope is fading in the Philippine village of Guinsaugon, which was buried by a mudslide this week. Some 1,800 people were killed.
A second landslide claimed another 5-10 lives yesterday.
The US military is mobilizing to provide relief. More on charitable efforts here.
Meantime, Philippine president Gloria Maccapal-Arroyo is in trouble amid a coup alert via PJI:
THE Philippine National Police has been placed on red alert nationwide following reports of another coup plot.PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Samuel Pagdilao said the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the National Capital Region Command, are now on heightened alert as a result of the anti-government rallies being staged by various militant groups.
Pagdilao said PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao has ordered all district directors nationwide to be extra vigilant as suspected terrorists and New People's Army rebels are also reportedly planning to take advantage of the volatile situation.
National Capital Region Police Office director Vidal Querol has ordered the five district directors as well as city and town police chiefs in Metro Manila to intensify patrols and set up more checkpoints...
It's a mess. Say a prayer or send help, if you can. They could use both.
Darn those imperialist US Marine agressors trying to resure innocent Phillipino schoolchildren buried under 100 feet of mud! (sarcasm button off)
More pics posted on this thread! http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41352000/jpg/_41352710_marines_ap416.jpg
a wonderful woman who cares for a brain-damaged friend of mine lost her mother and entire extended family in that mudslide. aunts, uncles, cousins, etc....all gone. she's in shock and probably will be for a long time.
A portrait of Jesus Christ lies on the ground as rescuers continue their work at the site where mudslides buried the remote farming village of Guinsaugon near Saint Bernard town in southern Leyte province in central Philippines February 20, 2006. Hunting for bodies and burying the dead resumed in the central Philippines on Monday, with rescuers holding out little hope for landslide survivors in a village of 1,800 entombed by a collapsed mountainside.
Sorry I gave you the wrong url for the Freeper thread. Thousands of US troops to join landslide rescue as buried school is located. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1582135/posts
This must be an incredibly difficult rescue task...getting air down to the buried school is a good idea, since people can survive for several more days without food...
This is in fact one of the very few cases that the "imperialist" label is remotely applicable, but I am quite certain that the overwhelming majority of the Phillipine people -- certainly a higher percentage than SF, Seattle, etc. -- don't have ahy problem with the US or with our Marines.
I'll go further than that -- IMO it's more likely than not that some of the US Marines being deployed were born in the Phillipines.
DearGod,
Please bless the efforts of our Marines and all the other rescue teams by letting them find the school and some survivors in it.
We ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Come on baby!!!! Let's find those people soon and get them home!!!!
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