65 bodies found so far

Search and rescue personnel dug up 65 bodies from a Southern Leyte village buried by a landslide Friday even as authorities expressed hope to recover survivors from among at least 1,300 people still missing. “The death toll now stands at 65," said retired Maj. Gen. Glenn Rabonza, administrator of the Office of the Civil Defense, during a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo. He said at least five of the fatalities were children. Rabonza said 20 injured people were also found while the number of survivors is pegged at 410. “The number of missing is 1,371, including 246 people from the buried school building," Rabonza said. He said thousands of people from at least nine villages were moved to evacuation centers for fear another landslide may occur. Relief operations continue Sunday. “The search and rescue operations are ongoing at the moment. The primary focus of the search and rescue operations right now is at the school building," Rabonza said. Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio, commander of the 43rd Infantry Battalion, said rescue efforts were also centered on a buried village hall. "These have been tagged as priority areas of search, rescue and retrieval operations," Farnacio said. The school building reportedly housed 206 pupils and 40 teachers when the avalanche of mud hit. "We are very hopeful to recover more survivors. We are not giving up our hopes," Rabonza said when asked about the possibility of finding survivors. He said during the 2004 landslides in Quezon province, private and military search and rescue teams recovered survivors from a building that was buried for 10 days. US Marines diverted from the Balikatan exercises with Filipino troops in Basilan began helping in rescue operations, Farnacio said. Malaysian soldiers were also due to arrive Sunday. “The good news about the disaster is that the communication lines were not cut. We also did not suffer from power outage. Command, control and communications are intact so we can further go on with the search and rescue mission," Farnacio said. Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, National Disaster Coordinating Council chairman, appealed for relief goods from the private sector. He said more evacuation centers will be put up. “We need support because the local government unit is planning to set up more evacuation centers. We need to continuously give them relief goods for at least four months," Cruz said. - GMANews.TV