Unidentified bodies dumped in Cagayan de Oro landfill 

With funeral parlors refusing to accept anymore cadavers, local officials have decided to keep the bodies of around 100 unidentified victims of Tropical Storm Sendong in a landfill in Cagayan de Oro until they have been claimed or identified.

 

In an exclusive report aired over GMA News TV's Quick Response Team, anchor Jiggy Manicad said the unidentified cadavers are being kept in a portion of a landfill in Zayas, Upper Carmen while authorities confirm their identities.

 

Manicad said the local government provided tents and the Department of Health (DOH) cadaver bags but even these were also not enough for the large number of unidentified bodies that were dumped in the landfill.

 

Manicad said authorities have prepared caskets made of plywood for the victims whose bodies will be identified. He said the DOH and National Bureau of Investigation were working together to identify the bodies.

 

Earlier in the day, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that at least 957 people had been confirmed dead and at least 49 still missing because of Sendong.

 

Cagayan de Oro recorded the highest number of deaths so far, with 579, which is already more than Ondoy's 464 fatalities. Many of those killed lived on Isla de Oro, an islet close to the banks of the heavily silted Cagayan de Oro River. 

 

A total of 1,582 had been reported injured while 432 were rescued, the report added.

 

Also, the NDRRMC said Sendong had affected 63,079 families or 338,415 people in 260 villages in 30 towns and eight cities in 13 provinces.

 

Of these, 9,743 families or 42,733 people are being served in 62 evacuation centers.

 

Damage to property was estimated at P1,936,415, including P1,551,400 in agriculture in Caraga, and P385,015 in Bicol. — with Kim Tan/RSJ, GMA News