fated village went as high as eight metres. "There's nothing here but watery mud," he told a Manila radio station shortly after arriving in the area. "We are trying to locate the school where children were supposed to be trapped but we could not see it." Parnacio said soldiers immediately began to manually dig through the mud, using shovels and their hands. "It was difficult to say where the houses and the school were, but we just started digging," he said. "We can see some protruding rooftops covered with mud, but we need a sketch of the village." Saint Bernard town Mayor Maria Lim said Guinsaugon was the fourth largest village in the town, with an estimated population of 3,000. "Before the landslide, we felt the ground shake," she said. "Seconds later, the mud came crashing down the mountain." A US Navy ship which was participating in a joint military exercise in the Philippines was diverted to the area to help in the rescue operations, according to a US Embassy spokesman. Matthew Lussenhop said the embassy was also studying the request by the Philippine Red Cross for the US military to send helicopters to help in the rescue operations. Provincial Governor Lerias appealed for more help. "We need ropes, cadaver bags, stretchers for the survivors, warm bodies and medical teams to help us," she said. "Operations are being hampered by lack of equipment and people." "It's also very hard to reach the affected areas," she added. "You sink every time you step on the mud." Southern Leyte has been soaked by more than two weeks of heavy rains that could have weakened the soil. On Sunday, a landslide also hit the nearby town of Sogod, killing eight people. An earthquake measuring 2.6 on the Richter Scale shook the area in the morning and authorities said this could have contributed to the landslide. In December 2003, some 300 people were killed or missing due to a massive landslide in Southern Leyte. The tragedy was blamed on rampant illegal logging in the area. --SP 23 15 Local Time 20 15 GMT
