MANILA, 10 December 2004 — A toddler was among four people pulled alive from a building crushed by a landslide 11 days ago as Philippine rescuers yesterday frantically dug for more survivors.
Over 120 people trapped under the two-story building near the northeastern town of Real had been given up for dead days ago, until faint voices were heard yesterday from under the pile of mud, logs and debris.
“I heard a child’s cry and told my colleagues there were still people under the rubble. Residents were at first afraid that it could be ghosts of those that were buried,” said a volunteer helping in the rescue, who did not want to be named.
After puncturing the thick concrete roof of the collapsed building using drills and a backhoe, the rescuers reached Estella Mae Sor, 3, Maria Luba, 43 and teenagers Modesto Manoguid and Carl Bungat.
They were described as weak and severely dehydrated and doctors had to apply cotton swabs to their mouths to prevent them from going into shock. The four said they survived on “prayers and water” that seeped through the rubble, rescuers said.
“We held hands and prayed and said we did not want to die yet,” said Luba, on a stretcher minutes before they were airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Television footage also showed one of the teenage boys naked from the waist up, his face grimy with mud as he silently sobbed. The toddler was wrapped in blankets and stared blankly at the camera.
“I thank God for rescuing them,” said a sobbing woman, who identified herself as the aunt of the rescued three-year-old girl. “Our relatives had given up and left, but we felt we could get them alive.”
Other rescuers said faint voices could still be heard, indicating more possible survivors. Unconfirmed radio reports said 20 people were still trapped but alive in the debris.
“It looks like there might be more survivors under the collapsed building,” said Col. Jaime Buenaflor, head of an army unit leading the rescue effort.
“Those that were pulled out alive can still talk. They are being treated by our medical teams. They are being readied for evacuation. I still can’t understand how they survived.”
Doctors said surviving such an ordeal was amazing, but not unheard of. They pointed out that in July 2000, a man was pulled out from under rubble 13 days after a major earthquake toppled a building in the northern city of Baguio.
The deeply religious Southeast Asian country is reeling from two storms that have left over 1,500 people dead or missing on the northeast coast, and President Gloria Arroyo hailed the dramatic rescue as a “miracle”.
“I’d like to thank God for that miracle and they (the rescuers) are continuing to dig deeper to see if they can rescue any more,” Arroyo said in Manila. She later boarded a helicopter to check on rescue efforts.
The caretaker of the building in the village of Tignoan said around 120 people had crammed into the structure on Nov. 29 at the height of a powerful tropical storm.
But floodwaters cascading down from the Sierra Madre mountains, uprooting trees and boulders, engulfed and crushed the building. Rescuers using their bare hands and shovels had recovered over 40 bodies before giving up the hunt for survivors.
Meanwhile a contingent of US Marines was yesterday helping to airlift relief supplies into Real, Infanta and General Nakar, the three towns worst hit by two storms last week which have left tens of thousands homeless. More US troops were expected to arrive today. Residents of the towns could be seen lining the mud-covered roads, waiting for aid to be distributed.
— With input from agencies
