Garbage slide kills 46 in Manila's "Promised Land"At least 46 people died smothered under tonnes of rubbish and scores were missing after a towering garbage dump collapsed on Monday in a district called the Promised Land on the outskirts of the Philippine capital Manila.More than 90 people were injured as the avalanche buried more than 100 houses, mostly shanties, in a squatter colony at the foot of the dumpsite in the Manila suburb of Quezon City around 7:30 a.m. (2330 GMT Sunday), officials said. "Help us, our parents are buried below," a sobbing eight-year-old Robee Pablo told rescue workers who found him and his sister, Sheryl, aged four, near the ruins of their house. The two children were covered with garbage. Asked how he and his sister escaped, he said: "We just ran." Nine hours after the cave-in, moans could be heard from beneath the mountain of rubbish, Manila radio station DZRH said. Officials said the collapse was caused by heavy rains from typhoon Kai-Tak which had battered the country for five days, loosening the dump's soil foundation. About 300 soldiers and volunteers, hampered by lack of cutting equipment, poor lighting from generators and bursts of rain, toiled through the night to try to reach victims pinned underneath. Some clawed with bare hands through the rubbish mountain, which has stood for years as a symbol of massive poverty in the Philipppines. The Red Cross said 72 people were missing and 1,500 were homeless. A soldier said he was told by his officer that "1,000 persons" were buried but this was unconfirmed. Rescuers said they feared the death toll would rise once they reached the bottom of the heap. Many of the dead were children, some only months old. |
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