Landslide kills 3 French tourists

by Oliver Teves

THREE French tourists were among at least 12 people killed when heavy rain collapsed an earthen dike and fed landslides and floods that deluged towns and villages in Central Luzon, officials said yesterday.

A group of French and South Koreans were traveling on Mount Pinatubo on Thursday in three vehicles when a landslide blocked their path, trapping one of the cars, said Tarlac Gov. Victor Yap.

Three French nationals—a woman and two men—and their two Filipino guides were swept away in a flash flood. The five bodies were recovered separately Friday, said Fely Baun of the disaster coordinating council of Capas town.

The six French survivors—three men, including one with a fractured shoulder, and three women—were taken to the Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital in Tarlac City and were to be taken to Manila later in the day, a hospital staffer said.

“They said the water suddenly rose and they were swept away by strong currents,” Yap told The Associated Press.

French Embassy Consul Arnold Rayar said he spoke with the survivors and they confirmed they were French.

The worst-hit area was Zambales province on the foothills of Mount Pinatubo.

More than 1,000 residents of Botolan town sheltered overnight at a school after days of pounding rain caused a 20-meter breach in the Pinatubo dike, sending the floodwaters as high as roofs, said regional police chief Leo Nilo de la Cruz.

A local tribal chief, Carling Dumulot, estimated that some 12,000 had evacuated their homes and said loosened trees carried by water and mud were slamming against houses and hindering evacuation efforts.

Three villages were completely under water, he said.

“There are many residents who spent the night shivering on the rooftops,” said De la Cruz.

An Air Force helicopter plucked trapped people from trees and rooftops.

At least two died in Botolan and surrounding areas, Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso said. The government closed all schools in the province and declared a state of emergency.

“Virtually all areas in the province had experienced flooding,” he said.

In Tarlac on Pinatubo’s northeastern side, police chief Rudu Lacadin said authorities recovered another two bodies.

Landslides in the northern Cordillera mountains separately killed three siblings aged 7 to 13 in Baguio City, said regional disaster agency chief Olive Luces. Their parents escaped, he said.

Six Chinese tourists from Hong Kong and four Filipino crewmen were rescued Thursday after their boat capsized because of big waves off Verde Island south of Manila, said Coast guard Spokesman Armand Balilo.

Monsoon rains have saturated the mountainous north, the central Visayas islands and Mindanao since last month, killing at least 20 people.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo exploded in one of the world’s biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people and closing down the US-run Clark Air Base.

Millions of tons of volcanic debris on the mountain slopes pose a constant danger during heavy rain. AP

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