Aid trickles in after mudslides
2006-12-04 11:14
Manila - Foreign aid is trickling into the Philippines after deadly mudslides triggered by torrential rains left more than 1 000 people dead or missing.
Local rescue teams have been trying to reach isolated villages and towns in the worst affected parts of the Bicol region, south east of Manila, which bore the full impact of super typhoon Durian last Thursday.
Food, water and medical supplies are in short supply as civilians and troops picked their way through what remains of villages and towns in the vain hope of finding survivors.
Philippine military aircraft have been ferrying supplies from Manila to the provincial capital Legaspi.
The government's National Disaster Co-ordinating Centre (NDCC) on Monday confirmed 425 dead from the mudslides around Mayon volcano and listed a further 599 people as missing.
Local Red Cross official Benjamin Delfin told AFP: "We are receiving donations from international organisations at this point as we continue to estimate the cost of this disaster.
"What we need now are medicines, food and items such as blankets, water and plastic sheeting for those who lost their homes."
The NDCC said humanitarian aid is expected from Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia while cash is being sent from the United Nations and the governments of Canada and Australia.
On Sunday President Gloria Arroyo declared a "state of national calamity" and authorised the immediate release of a billion pesos ($20m) to help affected areas.
- AFP