800 Yolanda victims still awaiting burial in Tacloban City

The Department of Health (DOH) expects to bury around 800 victims of Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City by Wednesday next week, exactly two months after the super typhoon barreled through central Philippines and left over 6,000 dead.

Health Undersecretary Janet Garin told GMA News Online by phone that 186 bodies have already been buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Tacloban City since the DOH and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) forensic teams resumed processing cadavers this week.

The bodies buried at the cemetery have been completely processed by the authorities, she said.

An estimated 1,200 bodies, meanwhile, have been buried at the temporary mass grave dug in Barangay Suhi.

The remaining 800 bodies awaiting burial comprise of more than 600 unprocessed cadavers and 200 processed ones, Garin said.

“Yung 200, ililibing sa Holy Cross. Yung around 600 na katawan na unprocessed pa, ililibing sa temporary mass burial site sa Suhi,” she said.

A World Health Organization (WHO) official said Thursday it might take some time before the corpses are buried at the temporary mass grave constructed by the local government because the rainy weather is slowing down personnel tasked to process the bodies.

Garin is currently in the city along with Health Secretary Enrique Ona to oversee the processing of cadavers.

Malacañang earlier said it is doubling its efforts to address the problem on unburied victims of Typhoon Yolanda by asking the DOH to send 1,500 additional body bags to Tacloban City and protective kits for personnel in charge of the burial.

The Department of Public Works and Highways, meanwhile, has sent additional backhoes and payloaders to assist in digging the mass grave. — KBK, GMA News