GUINSAUGON -- Elsa Timbang gazed across a river at a mountain of mud which was once her home village and burst into tears.

She had been working for 10 years as a nanny in Britain but rushed home after global news networks reported the massive landslide which swallowed the hamlet of Guinsaugon in Southern Leyte.

Timbang clung to hope that her parents and relatives were still alive after more than two days under tonnes of mud and rocks.

"My family, where is my family? I know they are there," she cried as she was comforted by a local Red Cross volunteer. According to reports from a survivor, members of Timbang's family -- her parents, three brothers and two sisters and their children -- were sitting down for a traditional Filipino lunch on a lazy Friday when part of Can-abag mountain broke off after days of heavy rains.

Tons of mud and rocks as big as cars cascaded down the slopes and swallowed the village in the middle of once verdant rice paddies on the island of Leyte. "I saw the news on television and I know that the image of the woman being pulled out was my mother. I know she is alive," Timbang said, while Red Cross volunteers searched for her mother's name on the list of survivors.

The name was not on the list but Timbang said she would wait until bodies were produced or her relatives were found.

She grabbed the list and suddenly began to cry out loud.

"Oh my God, Nikki is dead," she said, referring to five-year-old Nikki Gwen Dayandayan whose name was on the list. "My niece is gone, oh my God!" Alberto Ybanez, 53, peered under a tin roof which he said was part of his modest bungalow. He was out of the house when the tragedy struck but his 82-year-old mother, wife and 23 year-old daughter were believed inside.

"They are still missing," he said as he salvaged mud-soaked clothes and kitchen items. Ybanez, his eyes bloodshot, later consoled himself by feeding the ducks inside a small pen that was not reached by the deadly mud.

Ybanez said he continued to hope his loved ones were still alive, two days after the tragedy and as the community prepares to bury those already found. But Elizabeth Selmar said that while she was holding out hope, it was unlikely anyone could have survived.

"I rushed here as soon as I heard. My two brothers are arriving later," she said.

Her mother Gloria Selmar-White and stepfather, British citizen Trevor White, were in their two-story home when they were buried alive.

"I can only hope that they are alive," Selmar said.*AFP

back to top