No survivors found in Philippine village
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-24 15:07

A top UN disaster official Friday urged rescuers to focus on caring for people made homeless by a landslide that buried a Philippines farming village as US Marines launched a major effort to find victims.

An aerial view Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006, of an evacuated mountain village on the central island of Leyte in the Philippines near the entombed village of Guinsaugon. Rescue efforts were suspended Thursday due to heavy rain and unsafe conditions after a group of seven Taiwanese disaster experts were rescued by U.S. Marines. Most of the population of Guinsaugon was feared buried alive when a rain-soaked mountain collapsed Friday. Surrounding villages remain evacuated for an undermined amount of time. [AP]

No survivors have been found in the farming village of Guinsaugon in the southeastern Philippines since hours after it was buried Feb. 17 in mud up to 100 feet deep. The official death toll stood at 129 with another 938 missing.

"This kind of disaster leaves a very small chance of survival, that's a reality. If there is one or two, it would be a miracle," said Puji Pujiono, leader of the United Nations disaster assessment and coordination team at the site.

"Taking care of those still alive is equally or more important than prolonging the (search) operation," he said.

Pujiono urged the Philippine government to make a list of needs for the hundreds of evacuees so other countries could coordinate donations, and warned of the threat of disease and overcrowding for those who lost their homes. Many are staying in schools in the nearby town of St. Bernard.

Still, rescue workers took advantage of clearing skies, launching their biggest operation so far at the site of a village that was buried by a landslide a week ago, the U.S. military said. A brief downpour temporarily slowed their work.

Hundreds of U.S. Marines and other rescue workers dug with picks and shovels in the mud covering the farming village of Guinsaugon. Most rescuers focused on a cluster of crumpled tin roofs and part of a big house in the mud, removing rocks by hand. At least one body was removed.

"Today's operation is the biggest so far," said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Manuel Biadog, a Filipino-American chaplain assigned to Marines based in Okinawa, Japan. "Right now, it's old-fashioned digging because the ground is so soft."

He said better weather after days of heavy rain had allowed workers to step up their efforts, but said they were not using a earthmover and other heavy equipment because the ground was too unstable and more landslides were feared.

"We are concerned that an area at the top of the mountain is receding," Biadog said. Helicopters were on standby to pull out any endangered diggers. Philippine Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio said 400 to 500 diggers were at the site.

"We all don't have much hope, but we are not giving up yet," said Benjamin Hong, head of a Taiwanese group of rescue workers.

The teams planned to check what is believed to be the roof of an elementary school that has been the focus of search efforts. It was spotted in aerial photographs far from what was believed to have been its original site.

Officials have speculated that the wall of mud, boulders and trees from the collapse of a nearby mountainside had swept the school away. More than 240 students and teachers were inside.

Much of the mud throughout the 100-acre landslide zone remains unsettled, especially after the continued rains. The dangers were underscored Thursday when a group of rescue workers had to be rescued after getting stuck while trying to extricate a body.