Tragic Landslide in Philippines
 

Landslides Kill At Least 83 In Philippines
Some Blame Illegal Logging For Disaster

POSTED: 10:16 a.m. EST December 21, 2003

MANILA, Philippines -- At least 83 people are known dead in floods and landslides in the Philippines -- and officials fear that number could go much higher.

More than 120 people are still missing, as rescuers battle rain and mud, searching for survivors.

In one mountainside village, dozens of houses have been buried under huge mounds of earth, debris and coconut trees. A disaster official tells The Associated Press the scene is "very, very depressing"

About 50 bodies have been found in the town. Rescuers describe digging up bodies of whole families buried together, including a mother embracing her children.

Some are blaming the tragedy on years of illegal logging.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2719269/detail.html

I have a friend who's over there with her family right now. Hopefully all are safe!

My mom's family still lives there. They're hours and hours away from Manila, in the north. Not quite sure in which provinces the landslides took place, but so far none of my relatives were harmed. Thank God.

That's really horrible. Good to hear your family is okay OTW.

Thanks Kevin.

It's really unfortunate to hear of such misfortune going on during the Holidays, and being that most of the Filipinos are Roman Catholic, I can only imagine what the families affected are going through right now.

I read somewhere that most of the families of those who died don't even have enough money for a proper funeral and burial for their loved ones. The articles I read said that most of them have to settle for mass graves. :(

my mother's fam is in manila, i'm going to have to get on the horn....

Shit, me too.