World News Philippines village buried in landslide

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GUINSAUGON, Philippines (AP) - A wall of mud and boulders swept down from a mountainside at terrifying speed Feb. 17, burying an eastern Philippines farming village in up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) of sludge.

Officials fear the death toll could climb past 1,500. The landslide left Guinsaugon - once a community of 2,500 people and an elementary school - looking like a giant patch of newly plowed land. Only a few pieces of corrugated steel sheeting indicate Guinsaugon ever existed.

Education officials said 250 pupils and teachers were believed to have been in the elementary school at the time of the major landslide.

Only one girl and a woman were rescued alive nearby.

"Our village is gone, everything was buried in mud," surviｖor Eugene Pilo, who lost his family, said. "All the people are gone."

"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," said fellow surviｖor Dario Libatan, who lost his wife and three children.

Surviｖors and others blamed rain and illegal logging for the disaster.

フィリピンで大規模地すべり

フィリピンで1月17日、大規模な地すべりが起き、死者は1,500人を超える可能性がでている。

Shukan ST: March 3, 2006

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