Typhoon may have killed 1 000+
2006-12-03 18:02
Daraga - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of national calamity on Sunday as the top Red Cross official estimated more than 1 000 people have been killed after a massive typhoon unleashed walls of black mud on entire villages.
Government figures placed the number of dead at 324, with 302 missing and 438 injured.
Arroyo declared a state of national calamity, allowing the Philippine government to more rapidly release funds needed to bolster search and rescue efforts.
She was scheduled to fly for a second time to worst-hit Albay province on Tuesday, spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said.
Typhoon Durian was the fourth major storm to hit the Philippines in four months.
It buffeted the Mayon volcano with so much wind and rain that ash and boulders cascaded down in walls of black mud that swamped entire villages.
The Red Cross's Richard Gordon described it as a "war zone".
No survivors are known to have been pulled from farmlands buried by volcanic mud, debris and boulders and hopes for finding any have virtually vanished.
After surveying the blackened wasteland, Spanish rescue volunteer David Quintana was pessimistic. "If it would be like this, chances are zero because you cannot breath, there is no air," he said.
The first funerals took place Saturday evening and several more bodies were buried in mass graves on Sunday as bodies rapidly decomposed in the tropical heat.
- AP