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02/23/2006

Rescuers continued digging for survivors at Guinsaugon in Saint Bernard town in Southern Leyte yesterday but there were signs the increasingly forlorn search for survivors may soon be called off.

The major international effort underway will become a search for up to 1,400 bodies if officials formally conclude that no one could still be alive under hundreds of tons of mud and rock.

"International experts will meet early tonight to decide whether to continue (searching for survivors). They will then make representations to the (provincial) governor," Maj. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos, head of the Philippine rescue effort, told Agence France Presse yesterday.

Several rescue officials have said for days that no one could have survived. But publicly at least, others have refused to concede that all hope is lost. Forensic experts from the Philippine National Police left Manila for the disaster area yesterday to help identify the dead.

The hopes of anguished relatives were raised briefly when rescuers Monday reported hearing noises through electronic listening probes, although they were unsure if the sounds were human. Nothing was heard Tuesday.

The effectiveness of the US Marines in search operations was brought to the fore yesterday when they detected the first sign of life after days of digging – a chicken that came cackling from a shattered part of a house partly buried in mud.

The chicken –actually a rooster –was recovered from a vacuum between part of a roof and solid rock.

Capt. Burrel Palmer, spokesman for US Marine Leyte operations said he too was wondering how the fowl could have survived nature’s wrath.

Southern Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias refused to abandon hope, however.

"The fact that they (rescue teams) want to continue digging is a sign of life," she said late Tuesday. "They told us they will continue digging... there is no question of giving up."

Hundreds of rescuers from at least five countries are working to locate and dig down to a buried village school and community hall, the focus of the operation. Some 240 children and staff are feared buried with the school.

US Marines were to bring in two truckloads of gravel to try to lay down a road across the morass of mud that covers the village. The aim is to bring in heavy equipment to speed up work with picks and shovels.

US Marines brought in a two-ton drill yesterday in a last-ditch effort to locate the buried elementary school. The drill is capable of digging 60 meters (180 feet) deep to clear rocks and debris, and the school is believed to have been buried under up to 35 feet of mud and rock.

Officials initially resisted using heavy equipment at the site, fearing the vibrations might cause the unstable mud to shift and suffocate anyone still alive under the muck.

But with five days passing since the last survivor was rescued, shovels have proved inadequate, with the holes being dug often collapsing. A backhoe and other heavy earth-moving machinery have been plying the 40-hectare mud field for two days now.

A US CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter airlifted the drill to the suspected site of the school.

High-tech seismic gear detected some underground sounds late Monday, creating a buzz of excitement and adrenaline among troops, miners and volunteers whose hopes of finding life had all but vanished. But when no survivors were found, engineers put it down to the sounds of the mud settling.

Search efforts have been further hampered because any identifiable landmarks have been obliterated.

A sea of mud and rock 100 feet thick in some places covers a nine-square kilometer area where the farming village once stood. Frequent rain changes the terrain.

Earlier claims that the school had been located appeared to be premature. Teams were searching a roughly 100-square-meter area for the school, which is thought to have been swept along by the mudslide.

"We believe we got the right area," said Lt. Joel Servinas, head of a Philippine rescue team on the ground.

"It rained hard last night. The ground moves," he told AFP. "So far we’ve dug less than 20 meters. I don’t know how far before we get to the school building itself.

"The school was pushed about 1,000 meters from its actual site. What we need are maps and municipal surveyors here," he said.

Aid continues to pour in from across the country and abroad. The Roman Catholic Church sent an initial 150 sacks of rice. Jollibee Foundation and Kawad Kalinga, a civic organization, has committed to build 100 homes. Bahrain sent $500,000 to help in the resettlement effort.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth sent her condolences to the landslide victims. "My prayers and thoughts are with everyone who have been affected by this dreadful disaster," she said in a message.

Heir to the British throne Prince Charles also conveyed his sympathy and concern. "My wife and I were horrified to hear of the cataclysmic landslide that caused such terrible devastation in Guingsaugon at the weekend, and our hearts go out to all those who lost their loved ones," he said.

The British government said it was also ready to provide assistance to victims.

Newlywed Almeira Tiempo was praying for a miracle as US Marines and Filipino soldiers dug through a hill of mud believed to mark the spot where a massive landslide buried her family home and the school.

She was brought in to help pinpoint the location of buildings.

Almeira was at university when disaster struck while her husband Narces was at home in Guinsaugon with his parents. The couple had only been married four months.

"We’re hoping and praying that my husband and in-laws are still alive. But if not, we want to get their bodies for a proper burial," Almeira told AFP.

Lerias said 107 bodies had been recovered while the Philippine Red Cross said 94 bodies and 11 body parts had been recovered. It said 1,027 people were missing.

Aid and specialist equipment and staff have poured in from around the world with former colonial power the United States taking a lead role.

Some 1,600 Marines and 16 helicopters are currently engaged in search and recovery operations, with 334 Marines on the ground helping find victims. — AFP, AP, Edu Punay, Pia Lee-Brago, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Roberto Dejon