  
| 
| ||||||||||||||||
Arroyo, Imelda aid mudslide effort
RELATED
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSSOUTHERN LEYTE, Philippines (CNN) -- Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived Wednesday at the site of the mudslide which is thought to have killed 1,000 people, many of them children. She spoke with rescue workers and leaders of the international agencies that have joined the effort. Imelda Marcos, widow of former President Ferdinand Marcos, visited the island, where she was born. The two women kissed and Marcos, who brought cash and truckloads of food, said she would remain as long as she could be of help. U.S. Marines hauled a 2-ton drill across a field of mud Wednesday in hopes that it will pierce the dozens of feet of rock, mud and boulders that separate them from hundreds of children and teachers buried in an elementary school when the mudslide struck. The drill can dig to a depth of 60 feet, enough to reach the building, which is believed to have held 246 students and seven teachers, officials said. Five days after the mudslide buried then and most of the other 1,875 residents of Suinsahugon on the southern Philippines island of Leyte, the official death toll Saturday was 107, but officials predicted it could exceed 1,000. Rosette Lerias, provincial governor of Leyte said there was little reason for hope, with sophisticated listening equipment indicating no sign of life emanating from deep underground. For the first time, she acknowledged that some bodies may never be recovered. The square kilometer field may be consecrated as a massive cemetery, and efforts to dig up the remaining bodies abandoned, she said. The plight of many of the survivors remains difficult, said Leonardo Sajando, the head of child protection for UNICEF in Manila. A number of the 158 child survivors have lost both of their parents, and efforts are being made to place them with caring, responsible adults whom they trust, he said. The province and others nearby are known to be a source for child trafficking, he said. "We're trying to ensure that no such thing would happen, and efforts are now being made to monitor and document cases of unaccompanied children," he told CNN. One advantage is the Philippine tradition of having close-knit extended families. "We would like to trace relatives of these children to find out if they could be taken care of," he said. Weakened by two weeks of steady rains, the mountain overlooking the village disintegrated into mud at 9 a.m. Friday (8 p.m. ET Thursday) and buried it under some 30 feet of earth. The area has been deluged with more than 20 inches of rain this month, about four times the maximum of any previous month. CNN's Hugh Riminton contributed to this report Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
|
| ||||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
