Mass Burials For Victims Of Philippines StormMass Burials For Victims Of Philippines Storm


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Mass Burials For Victims Of Philippines Storm



19:03, UK, 
Monday 19
December 2011















Play video "Hundreds Missing After Philippines Floods"










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By Holly Williams, Asia correspondent
Mass burials are being held in the Philippines for victims of the typhoon that killed more than 900 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

Tropical storm Washi ripped through Mindanao Island, triggering mudslides and flash floods that completely obliterated some villages.
Most of the dead were women and children who were asleep in their beds when 12 days of rain sent mud cascading down mountainsides and into towns and villages.
Others were swept out to sea by raging flood waters. Naval boats have been deployed to scour the coastline for survivors and bodies.

"Our fear is there may have been whole families that perished so there's nobody to report what happened," said Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang.
The Philippines sees more than a dozen typhoons a year. 
But the severity of Washi seems to have caught the country by surprise.
"It's overwhelming. We didn't expect this many dead," said Benito Ramos, the head of the country’s disaster response agency.
Some 20,000 soldiers have been mobilised to help with the rescue and relief operation.

An estimated 45,000 have been left homeless by the storm, which tore through the port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, destroying houses, roads and bridges.
The government now puts the death toll at 927.
On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI led a prayer for victims of the storm in St Peter’s Square.
The Philippines is overwhelmingly Catholic, though Mindanao has been the scene of violent conflict with the country’s Muslim minority in recent years.
Relief efforts are being hampered by Mindanao's mountainous landscape, as well as damage to the island’s infrastructure. 
Those displaced by the storm urgently need food, blankets and clothes.
Authorities say they are also running short of body bags and coffins for the dead.
Concerns about the spread of disease have prompted the Philippines government to start mass burials.
Many of the typhoon's victims have yet to be claimed by their loved ones. Their bodies will be specially marked for future identification.






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