WUNRN
THE PHILIPPINES - THE FEMALE FACE OF
THE MUDSLIDE TRAUMA
This
woman is one of few people pulled out alive after a massive mudslide buried an
entire village in the central Philippines.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16437260
January 6, 2012 - Rescue teams are continuing
to search for up to 150 people thought to be missing after a landslide struck a
mining village in the southern Philippines.
The
landslide occurred on Thursday in Pantukan, Compostela Valley province, on
Mindanao island.
At least 25
bodies have been recovered from the rubble.
Sixteen
people have also been treated for injuries, according to disaster management
officials.
The National
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said eight of the
missing had been named by relatives.
But it said
that up to 150 people - likely from other parts of the country - were missing,
based on estimates from local officials.
The
settlement was home to miners prospecting for gold. Unregulated mining activities
have made the mountain area unstable and caused a series of accidents.
A nearby
village was also hit by a landslide last year that left 14 people dead.
Police teams
and the armed forces are joining in the rescue operations and the area has been
designated a state of calamity.
"Based
on what we saw, we are expecting a lot of casualties because it happened very
early in the morning and there are a lot of shanties and small houses in the
side of the landslide path," Lt Col Lyndon Paniza, spokesperson for the
local military, told the BBC.
Civil
defence chief Benito Ramos said that the landslide was triggered by
"continuous rain" over two days.
Heavy rains
and the area's remote location have been obstacles to rescue operations.