200 Feared Dead in Philippine Landslide

More than 200 people were feared dead today after a landslide buried hundreds of houses and a school full of pupils in the eastern Philippines.

Another 1,500 people were missing after mud slid down a mountain on Leyte Island, Red Cross officials estimated.

"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," Dario Libatan, a survivor, told Manila radio DZMM. "I could not see any house standing any more."

The governor of southern Leyte province, Rosette Lerias, told the broadcaster 500 houses in Guinsahugon village were feared to have been buried after two weeks of solid rain. A primary school was open when the landslide struck, at around 9am local time (0100 GMT).

"The ground has really been soaked because of the rain," Ms Lerias said of the downpours, which have been blamed on the weather phenomenon known as La Niña. "The trees were sliding down upright with the mud."

She said an area about 1 sq km was covered in thick mud, which remained unstable, affecting rescue efforts. "Our communication line was cut because our people had to flee because the landslide appeared to be crawling," she added.

She said many residents who evacuated the area last week because of the threat of landslides and flooding had started returning home as the days became sunnier, with rains limited to the evenings.

A local dignitary, Eva Tomol, said only three houses remained standing in the village, which had a population of about 2,500 and is 420 miles south-east of Manila. Six survivors were being treated at a hospital, she said.

Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said the entire village appeared to have been buried in unstable mud. He appealed for US troops, currently in the country for a series of joint military exercises, to send heavy-lift helicopters to the landslide scene. A C-130 Philippine military transport plane was to fly to Leyte later today carrying search equipment and a team of sniffer dogs.

A US military spokesman, Captain Dennis Palmer, said US forces were ready to help as soon as they received an official request from the Philippine government.

Anthony Golez, deputy administrator of the office of civil defense, said two rescue helicopters and two navy ships had been sent to the remote area, where about 200 rescue workers, volunteers from nearby provinces among them, were trying to dig out survivors.

"We want to get a clearer picture of what happened and then also mobilize the army there," Mr Golez said.

In November 1991, about 6,000 people were killed on Leyte in floods and landslides triggered by a tropical storm.

Last weekend, seven road construction workers died in a landslide after falling into a ravine 46 meters deep in the mountain town of Sogod on the island.