- Title: PHILIPPINES: DEATH TOLL FROM GARBAGE DUMP LANDSLIDE RISES TO 71.
- Date: 11th July 2000
- Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (JULY 11, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/ZOOM OUT: SHANTIES AT THE FOOT OF GARBAGE DUMP 0.09 2. GV: BULLDOZER PUSHING GARBAGE 0.20 3. LV: PEOPLE ON TOP OF HEAP 0.29 4. LV/PAN: SHANTIES AT THE FOOT OF MOUNTAIN 0.39 5. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English/Filipino) CIVIL RELATIONS SERVICE CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES GENERAL JIMMY CANATOY SAYING: "We are hoping there are still people who are alive in the area. But we need equipment that could facilitate the removal of the trash that covered the community. There is a possibility, it's possible because last night we were still able to dig some more survivors, so it's possible that there are still people alive" 1.07 6. MV: GENERAL CANATOY MEDIUM SHOT 1.14 7. GV: RESCUE WORKERS ONTOP OF GARBAGE HEAP 1.27 8. GV: WIDESHOT OF DIGGER GOING THROUGH HEAP 1.40 9. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (FiIipino) TERESITA MARIANO SOCIAL SERVICES CHIEF OF QUEZON CITY SAYING "There are 60 bodies recovered...dead and we have 38 persons in 6 hospitals. In our evacuation centre there are 235 families, we expect the number to increase because we are encouraging other areas to vacate for their own good" 2.10 10. GV/PAN: WOMAN AND CHILD RUNNING TOWARD BASKETBALL COURT WHERE DEAD BODIES ARE PILED UP FOR IDENTIFICATION 2.16 11. GV/PAN: RESCUE WORKERS ENTERING TENT THEN OPENS A BODY BAG 2.31 12. GV/PAN: JOURNALISTS TILT TO BODY BAG OPEN, WITH DEAD CHILD COVERED WITH POWDER 2.39 13. CU: MAN CRYING 2.46 14. GV: WIDE OF TENT 2.55 15. GV/MV: EVACUEES IN EVACUATION CENTRE (3 SHOTS) 3.14 16. CU: (SOUNDBITE( (Filipino) LEVELIE TALAVAVO PROMISED LAND RESIDENT SAYING: "The government brought us here, then it should be the government who should bring us out! But there should be an alternative housing for us. If not, we will not oblige. And the government should give us livelihood in that alternative housing area" 3.38 17. GV: PEOPLE SEATED 3.44 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th July 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- Country: Philippines
- Reuters ID: LVADM0XLSBW9TDLIXCICUJBBZGP
- Story Text: The death toll from a landslide at a garbage site in
Manila has risen to 71 with dozens of people still missing.
Soldiers and rescue workers were still searching on
Tuesday (July 11) in a mountain of garbage that collapsed on a
Manila shantytown called the Promised Land.
Scores, perhaps hundreds, of others were missing and
feared dead under the tonnes of trash and mud that crashed
down on Monday (July 10) morning on the shantytown built on
the dumpsite.
About 100 people were also injured when a
one-hectare section of the 10-hectare garbage dump in the
Manila suburb of Quezon City crumbled after being pounded for
days by typhoon Kai-Tak. More than 100 squatter shanties at
the base of the massive dump, which towers over them like a
volcano, were crushed in the avalanche of rubbish and mud.
The Red Cross estimated 70 were missing but the local
civil defence office put the number at several hundred.
General Jimmy Canatoy, who was helping lead the search
for possible survivors, said he remained optimistic about
finding more people alive.
"We are hoping there are still people who are alive in
the area. But we need equipment that could facilitate the
removal of the trash that covered the community. There is a
possibility, it's possible because last night we were still
able to dig some more survivors, so it's possible that there
are still people alive."
Twenty-eight hours after the collapse, the smell of
rubbish was giving way to the stench of rotting bodies coming
from the heap.
Grief-stricken relatives braved the smell and clustered
around mounds of crushed shanties, clinging to the hope that
somehow, someone might still be alive down there.
Teresita Mariano, a social services worker, said dozens
of injured remained in hospitals and hundreds of evacuees had
made their way to evacuation centres.
"There are 60 bodies recovered... dead and we have 38
persons in 6 hospitals. In our evacuation centre there are 235
families, we expect the number to increase because we are
encouraging other areas to vacate for their own good," said
Mariano.
The dumpsite -- ironically called Lupang Pangako
(Promised Land) -- is a bleak underworld of 80,000
slum-dwellers, most of whom trek up the small mountain of
garbage daily to forage for used plastic containers, picture
frames, broken toys and broken appliances to sell to junk
shops.
For 20 years, it has stood as a symbol of the massive
poverty gripping this Roman Catholic nation of 75 million.
Each scavenger earns about 200 pesos ($4. 50) a day.
For the hundreds who have lost their homes in the
disaster, many remain reluctant to move to other locations,
saying that the garbage dump offers their only means of
livelihood.
"The government brought us here, then it should be the
government who should bring us out! But there should be an
alternative housing for us. If not, we will not oblige. And
the government should give us livelihood in that alternative
housing
area," said one evacuee.
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