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Up to 3,000 feared dead in Philippines landslide
(AFP/Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-02-18 14:44

TACLOBAN, Philippines - Up to 3,000 people are missing and feared dead after a massive landslide buried a village in the central Philippines under a sea of mud, officials said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message of condolence on Friday to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over the heavy casualties and property loss caused by a massive landslide in the country.

In the message, Hu, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, offered sincere sympathies to President Arroyo, the Philippine government and the relatives of the victims.

No Chinese nationals are reported dead or missing in the disaster.


A woman is surrounded by rescuers after a landslide in Leyte province in this February 17, 2006 video grab. Mudslides triggered by heavy rains buried hundreds of houses and a school in the central Philippines on Friday. [Reuters]
Only 109 bodies have so far been recovered along with 57 survivors from the mud that engulfed the farming village of Guinsaugon in the south of Leyte island on Friday, rescue official Hermigildo Castil said.

The rain had stopped but the sky was overcast, frustrating helicopter crews trying to land rescue equipment, he told AFP by telephone from the disaster scene.

About 500 rescuers were digging through the mud, using only shovels, he added.

Maria Lim, mayor of the nearby town of Saint Bernard, and Roger Mercado, the legislator representing the district in the House of Representatives, both raised the number of missing villagers to up to 3,000.

The Red Cross earlier estimated about 200 people were killed and said 1,500 others were missing.

"We now believe that there are 2,000 or 3,000 who are buried there," Mercado told local radio station DYBL.

"We have maybe a 10 percent chance of recovering them alive," Lim said.
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