GUINSAUGON, Philippines, 23 February 2006 — Another downpour forced an international rescue effort to suspend the search for the mud-covered elementary school here last night, further eroding hopes of finding any life under 35 meters of wet muck.
Officials said they were worried that conditions were too dangerous, with a number of holes that have been dug in the unstable mud collapsing.
US Marines brought in a two-ton drill, capable of digging 60 meters deep to clear rocks and debris, that they rented out to help in the search, but it went unused when no one could find the poles needed to brace it.
Up to 300 children and teachers are thought to have been trapped in the school when a mountainside collapsed Friday after two weeks of heavy rain, burying the farming village of Guinsaugon in a 40-hectare blanket of mud.
The official death toll of Friday’s landslide has reached 107, based on the number of bodies recovered, but officials fear it could surpass 1,000 on Leyte island.
Another four bodies were pulled out yesterday by a Taiwanese team, but not near the school site.
They were far away from a buried school which rescuers are struggling to pinpoint and unearth, said Taiwanese team leader Lu Cheng-tsung.
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.
Maj. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos, head of the Philippine rescue effort, said rescue leaders were to meet with international experts to decide whether to continue searching for survivors.
Should the experts decide that the chance of finding anymore survivors is nil, rescuers could start using heavy equipment to search for bodies. Search and rescue effort were still being done manually so as not to endanger possible survivors.
With entire families wiped out, at least half of the bodies have been buried in mass graves. But one victim received a full funeral yesterday.
Friends and family of Antonio Bulagsac carried his simple silver coffin to the St. Bernard cemetery. Despite their poverty, the family pooled money to buy a wreath.
An older relative sang during the brief but emotional ceremony before Bulagsac was laid to rest in an old family plot.
Despite an intense search, no one has been able to find the school, uncertain if it was still on its foundation or was swept away by the wall of earth, boulders and trees.
A Philippine mining engineer, Melchor Taclobao, said searchers on Tuesday had abandoned the spot where they were initially digging for the school after hitting ground, about 20 meters down.
No structure was found, he said, so they started digging at another spot 100 meters away.
Rescue workers used thick blue rope from the Marines to mark off a large area that they believe to be the perimeter of the property where the school was located. The site was determined using a satellite map, a topographical map and layout of property boundaries.
Philippine soldiers began digging with shovels after daybreak, while Taiwanese emergency teams set up sensors, hoping to detect sounds of survivors below the surface. No one has been found alive since just hours after the disaster.
The US Marines, some working 18-hour shifts, have been unable to bring in large generators because they shake the wet ground too much. An earthmover used in the search broke down Tuesday night, and US servicemen clustered around the vehicle yesterday, trying to fix it.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited the headquarters of the relief operation yesterday, about one kilometer from the village.
She received a briefing from the provincial governor, Rosette Lerias, and met local residents.
“We were absolutely crushed by sorrow over what transpired,” she said during a stop in nearby Cebu. “The loss of so many lives of men, women and children is too much to absorb.”
Arroyo consoled police officer Larry Binondo, who lost his wife, two children and two housekeepers.
She also asked for an aerial geological survey of the entire province in an effort to prevent a future disaster. She instructed the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) to provide emergency loans to their members in calamity-hit areas.
Governor Lerias had declared the entire province in a state of calamity following a series of landslides in various towns amid heavy rains. During a briefing, National Disaster Coordination Council officials told Arroyo that Leyte will experience four more months of heavy rain.
Imelda Marcos, wife of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, arrived separately and kissed Arroyo on the cheek before the president left.
Arroyo thanked the international community for its support, especially the United States which has committed between 2,500 and 3,000 troops serving at the scene or on supply ships.
She also thanked Malaysia, Taiwan, Spain and Indonesia which have sent doctors, nurses, troops or specialist teams to help in the rescue efforts.
Arroyo said Japan was sending geologists to survey earthquake-prone Leyte. (Additional input from Agencies)
