Hope fades for survivors in Filipino mudslide 20/02 09:07:16

Rescuers are picking through a sea of mud in search of survivors after a massive landslide buried 1,800 Philippine villagers, but officials conceded hope was all but lost.

Philippines declares landslide disaster area "no-fly zone" 19/02 21:22:16

At least 10 people were missing and feared dead in a landslide Saturday night near a mining headquarters in the province of Zamboanga del Sur in southern Philippines, reported the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Sunday.

10 feared dead in new landslide in southern Philippines 19/02 17:31:22

At least 10 people were missing and feared dead in a landslide Saturday night near a mining headquarters in the province of Zamboanga del Sur in southern Philippines, reported the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Sunday.

Philippine, U.S. to transport dead bodies out of landslide site 19/02 15:11:15

Philippine and U.S. military said they would transport dead bodies by helicopters out of the quagmire of mud and debris on Sunday at the landslide site here, in fear an epidemic could break out as bodies begin to rot.

Int'l community provides aid for landslide-hit Philippines 18/02 18:50:17

The United States has ordered two warships, 17 helicopters and 1,000 Marines involved in joint exercises with Philippine troops to participate in rescue operations for a devastating landslide in the central Philippines

Arroyo thanks int'l community for support after landslide 18/02 15:58:13

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo thanked the international community including the International Red Cross, United Nation Children's Fund and the U.S. government pledged their help for the victims of the tragedy.

No survivor found at Philippine landslide burial site 18/02 15:13:20

Soldiers, student volunteers and government officials have been arriving here since Saturday morning at the site of the mountain mud devastation which buried a village alive, in the hope of finding survivors.

Filipino mudslide deaths may top 1,500 17/02 23:55:20

The Philippines suffered another national disaster which could have killed hundreds if not thousands when a devastating landslide buried alive a whole village in Southern Leyte province in the central Visayas region.

11 villages evacuated from landslide struck region 18/02 13:26:20

Philippine officials said Saturday that 11 villages in Southern Leyte where a landslide buried a village on Friday have been evacuated and seven centers have been set up in Saint Bernard township, where the landslide took place, to shelter the evacuees

Canadian FM expresses condolences over Philippines landslide 18/02 13:14:20

Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay issued a statement Friday, paying condolences to the Philippine people on the tragedy caused by the landslide and offering assistance.

US military sends survey team to landslide site  18/02 13:10:20

The U.S. military's joint task force overseeing a military exercise is sending a survey team to the landslide site in Southern Leyte on Saturday to assess humanitarian situation, reported the Philippine Daily Inquirer on its website.

Hopes of finding more survivors of landslide look dim 18/02 12:25:20

Hopes of finding more survivors in Friday's landslide that struck a village in southern Leyte look dim as rescuers have great difficulty penetrating a mud sea of 30 feet deep, four kilometers long and half a kilometer wide, said a Filipino official early Saturday.

Rescue operation resumes in landslide site 18/02 11:39:20

Rescue and relief operations resumed Saturday morning in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, for hundreds and possibly thousands of villagers buried under 30-feet thick mud after a landslide devastated an entire village Friday, with little hope to find more survivors.

President Hu offers condolences over Filipino landslide victims 17/02 20:38:11

Chinese President Hu Jintao sent amessage of condolence on Friday to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over the heavy casualties and property loss caused by a massive landslide in the country.

15 confirmed dead, thousands missing in Filipino mudslide 17/02 20:53:02

At least 15 people were confirmed dead, 58 survivors were recovered and thousands remained missing by Friday evening after a massive landslide reduced a green farmland valley into a huge burial ground of mud and rock submerging three entire villages in minutes.

Hundreds feared dead in major Filipino mudslide 17/02 18:52:38

The Chinese Government sent a task force organized by the Foreign Ministry to Karachi Thursday to help deal with the aftermath of three Chinese engineers' death in Pakistan.

200 killed, 1500 missing in Filipino mudslide 17/02 15:37:16

China has announced that it will not evacuate engineers and technicians from Pakistan after three Chinese engineers were shot dead in Pakistan on Wednesday.

Backgrounder

The Leyte island measures about 180 km north-south and about 65 km at its widest point.     In the north it nearly joins Samar, separated by the San Juanico Strait , which becomes as narrow as 2 km in some places. The island province of Biliran is also to the north of Leyte and is joined to Leyte island by a bridge across the narrow Biliran Strait.     To the south Leyte is separated from Mindanao by the Surigao Strait. To the east, Leyte is somewhat "set back" from the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, Samar to the northeast and Dinagat to the southeast forming the Leyte Gulf. To the west are Cebu and Bohol.     Leyte is mostly heavily forested and mountainous, but the Leyte Valley in the northeast has much agriculture.