More than 400 people either dead or missing after Philippine storm
02 December, 2006
Rescue workers in the central Philippines are searching for survivors in the wake of a typhoon that triggered deadly landslides.
More than 400 people have been reported either dead or missing, but Philippine officials said the toll could rise.
Rescue operations are continuing, but emergency workers say hopes of finding any more survivors are dwindling.
Areas near the Mayon volcano, south-east of Manila, were among the worst-hit by Typhoon Durian.
A local mayor said several villages had been wiped out, with only roofs jutting out of the mud and debris.
"It's terrible. We now call this place a black desert," said Noel Rosal, mayor of Legazpi, the capital of Albay province, after visiting one stricken village.
'Lost everything'
Typhoon Durian struck the Philippines on Thursday, bringing heavy rain and winds of up to 225 kph (140 mph).
The torrential rain dislodged ash and boulders from the slopes of the Mayon volcano, causing landslides which engulfed nearby villages.
The villages worst affected are Daraga, Busay and Santo Domingo, near Legazpi, 350km (220 miles) south of the capital, Manila.
The full extent of the damage is not yet known because power and telephone lines have been brought down.
The Office of Civil Defense said that 208 people had been killed, with 261 missing.
Fernando Gonzales, governor of Albay province, said a six-foot (1.8m) high wall of water had crashed down the mountain.
"We haven't seen anything like this perhaps in hundreds of years," he told Reuters news agency. "We lost everything."
One man told local radio that the force of the water had left him helpless.
"I clung to a coconut tree because the current was strong," Ramon Valderama said. "I was swept to sea. Big rocks were hitting me."
'Toll to rise'
Soldiers have been working with their bare hands to pull bodies from the sludge, while helicopters carry out aerial surveillance in cut-off areas.
Cedric Daep, head of the provincial Disaster Control Council, said waters had risen so fast that people could not escape from their houses.
He said the death toll was likely to rise. "There are possibly dozens or hundreds [of bodies] to be recovered," he told the French news agency AFP.
The typhoon has left thousands of people homeless, with survivors sheltering in schools and churches.
Glenn Rabonza of the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council told the BBC that relief supplies were flowing into the area.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to assist medical teams in reaching submerged villages.
Mayon, the Philippines' most active volcano, had been rumbling for months and began emitting lava in mid-July.
Durian - named after a spiky Asian fruit - is the fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines in the last three months.
It was expected to weaken into a tropical storm as it moves into the South China Sea.
End.
Courtesy: BBC News
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