THE Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has retrieved 16 more bodies, raising to more than 1,000 the number of dead from Tropical Storm Sendong (international codename: Washi), which devastated the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Northern Mindanao last week.
Waters off the two cities were littered with bodies, officials said on Thursday.
The command’s spokesman, Col. Leopoldo Galon, said that as of 7 a.m. also of Thursday, the fatalities numbered 1,018, with most of the deaths (666) reported in Cagayan de Oro, followed by Iligan (283).
Deaths were also reported in other parts of Mindanao—Bukidnon province, the Caraga region, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)—and in Western Visayas.
Galon said that the search for several missing persons was continuing.
Latest data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed that the number of victims has increased to over 641,000 or 92,964 families.
In Cagayan de Oro, forensic experts from the Philippine National Police (PNP) also on Thursday were still identifying over 130 cadavers through DNA analysis, fingerprint test or dental test.
Senior Supt. Liza Sabong, deputy chief for administration of the PNP Crime Lab, said that this number excluded bodies being examined by other forensic experts from the National Bureau of Investigation.
With the bodies of victims of Sendong still littering the waters off southern Philippines, officials also on Thursday expressed fears that diseases could strike the survivors of the storm.
The official death toll from last weekend’s disaster, which swept away shantytowns built near major rivers, has exceeded a thousand. Some authorities, however, said that hundreds more could be missing and might never be found.
NDRRMC chief Benito Ramos said that Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy vessels had been drafted for a huge rescue effort to find bodies floating amid debris up to a hundred kilometers away.
“By this time, there will be no survivors, just dead bodies,” he said after Sendong brought heavy rains that spawned flash floods, overflowing rivers and mudslides that buried bodies or swept them into the sea.
Ramos put the death toll at 1,010 while the NDRRMC put the number of missing at 51.
But Mayor Lawrence Cruz of Iligan said that in his city alone, more than 400 residents had been reported missing, with another 283 confirmed dead.
“We could only assume [that] they are dead already. There is so much mud that has to be cleared up and maybe the missing are buried deep inside,” Cruz added.
Philippine Red Cross official Gwendolyn Pang said that at least 900 bodies had been recovered and confirmed that some 400 people had been reported missing.
She, however, pointed out that the exact toll might never be known as some of those reported missing may in fact be among the dead, and there could be many more whose disappearance was never reported.
“Many will never be found and we don’t know how many are really missing. No one will report them because entire families were swept away,” Pang said.
A Navy vessel recovered 11 badly decomposed bodies off the coastal town of Salay on Wednesday, Navy spokesman and Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay said.
“Recovering bodies at sea is difficult because of the sheer volume of debris. You have to ram logs and risk holing your hull or entangling your propellers,” Tonsay added.
Ramos said that the maritime search could continue for two more weeks, but warned that many bodies might have sunk underwater and would never be found.
The main priority now is finding permanent shelter for the thousands displaced by the floods, particularly the more than 43,000 housed in cramped evacuation centers, he added.
Health officials have warned of the risk of epidemics breaking out at the camps, which remain without proper water supply and sanitation.
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