By Erik de Castro
Real, Philippines - Rescuers dug with their bare hands to find survivors from landslides and floods that killed up to 600 people in the northern Philippines.
Then it was due to be hit by a typhoon in just over 24 hours, weathermen warned on Wednesday.
Residents of coastal towns worst hit by heavy rains early this week said food and water were running low as rescuers were forced to carry supplies on foot. Roads were cut off and bad weather grounded rescue helicopters.
| 'The stench of decomposing bodies is starting to overcome us' |
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a nationwide crackdown on the illegal logging believed to have worsened the landslides. She told officials to do everything possible to protect people from the looming typhoon.
But the isolated location of the towns and worsening weather conditions made them inaccessible, forcing people to wade through deep mud for help.
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"The stench of decomposing bodies is starting to overcome us," said Ros Calma, who walked eight hours to escape Real, one of three towns in Quezon province east of Manila.
"We are worried that an epidemic might break out."
Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said landslides and floods had hit several areas in the main northern island of Luzon. Citing police reports, he said 412 people were confirmed dead, 63 injured and 177 missing.
In Real, rescuers used sticks and bare hands to search for friends and relatives who had taken shelter in a large building that later collapsed.
Neri Amparo, an official at the National Disaster Co-ordinating Centre, said more than 70 could have been buried alive.
Decades of logging have cut forest cover in the Philippines from 34 percent in 1970 to 18 percent now, according to the Environmental Science for Social Change, a local activist group.
The government imposed a selective logging ban after widespread floods in the early 1990s, but numerous crackdowns have failed to halt a trade that is worth millions of dollars a year to smugglers and corrupt politicians.
"Illegal logging must now be placed among the most serious crimes against our people," Arroyo said.
Meteorological officials said Typhoon Nanmadol, with winds of 175km/h at its centre, was gaining strength and was expected to hit the east coast late on Thursday or Friday.
"We haven't seen anything like this since the start of the year," said Rose Asejo, an official at the national weather bureau. "It's a super-typhoon with a wider coverage and very strong winds."
The weather was already worsening.
Attempts to reach the affected towns with the country's few rescue helicopters failed and a navy ship ferrying relief supplies to Real was stuck there due to high waves and logs in the sea.
Soldiers helping in rescue efforts faced the added danger of attacks by communist rebels, who have a strong presence in the Sierra Madre mountains along the eastern coastline.
The military said 10 soldiers were killed and six wounded in an ambush by New People's Army rebels in Bulacan province on Tuesday.
Some flood victims had lucky escapes. A 20-year-old man and his heavily pregnant wife were swept along in a flooded river for two hours, surviving by clinging to a water jug and a banana crate before being fished out.
"My body was getting numb. I was ready to give up," the man was quoted as saying. - Reuters
- This article was originally published on page 4 of The Star on December 02, 2004
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