|
Sunday, November 23, 2008
200 villagers evacuated after landslide
DAVAO CITY - The government ordered 200 villagers to leave their mountainside homes Saturday after at least six neighbors were killed in a landslide.
Village leader Glenda Verallio said about 200 people from 35 families were given shelter in an abandoned building inside a nearby Army camp.
What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers
Hard rain continued Saturday, forcing officials to temporarily halt the search for victims.
Compostela Valley provincial officials gave the order as continuous rains threatened to unleash more mud and rocks on the village of Upper Ulip in Monkayo town, where a mudslide tumbled down the mountain late Thursday, Verallio said.
Village Chief Franco Tito said Saturday they are helping Barangay Upper Ulip recover the body of Saturnino Teodoro Mangob who remains missing as of this posting.
He said they hope to recover his body soon.
Six people were confirmed dead, one still missing and eight injured when two separate landslides hit the gold rush mountain of Diwalwal Thursday.
A woman and her three young children were among six people whose bodies have been recovered from the mudslide, Verallio said.
The first landslide occurred in Mt. Diwata village, site of the gold rush, at around five in the morning of November 20 at Purok 17.
Tito said the house of Vicente Elemino was buried under rocks and mud after the landslide. The injured were readily brought to the Tagum City regional hospital for treatment.
The second landslide was in Upper Ulip at around four in the afternoon.
Landslide is a common occurrence in Diwalwal, which is home to about 40,000 families mostly small-scale miners and small traders.
Authorities have identified Diwalwal as a high-risk area to landslide yet this has not stopped people who wanted to strike gold from coming.
Meanwhile, the weather bureau said Saturday a tail-end of a cold front may bring flash floods and landslides to parts of northern and Central Luzon.
The inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) may also bring scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over Mindanao.(BOT/AP/Sunnex)
(November 23, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
2 Sayyaf bandits fall