Residents in the southern Philippines began to bury their dead on Friday,?as rescue workers continued scouring remote areas for possible survivors of Typhoon Bopha, the country's strongest storm this year.
The storm killed 418 people and left nearly as many missing.
Officials in Compostela Valley, one of the worst hit provinces on the resource-rich island of Mindanao, were considering mass graves for unclaimed bodies killed by the typhoon which hit two days ago.
Bopha caused?a swathe of destruction in the valley, flooding farming and mining towns and burying many people in mudslides.
“We are thinking of burying the unclaimed bodies on health concerns,’’ said Maj.-Gen. Ariel Bernardo.
“This has become urgent because?the foul smell is becoming strong,’’ an army division commander in the southern Philippines
said.''
Bernardo said rescue and retrieval work was hampered by lack of equipment.
“Some of the dead are buried in knee deep mud and we only have our hands and shovels,’’ he said.
Arturo Uy, governor of Compostela Valley, said the province was considering digging mass graves if most of the dead are
not claimed in two to three days.
He estimates 212 died in his province while nearly 400 were missing.
“Probably half of the missing could be dead by now,’’ he said.
The official death toll stands at 418, with 383 missing and hundreds injured, the national disaster agency said in its latest tally.
But the toll is expected to rise, with local government officials quoting higher number of those?missing.
“Up to now, we are not discussing stopping the search. There are still survivors in barangays (villages) which we couldn't
reach immediately,’’ Uy said.
Stephen Antig, executive director of Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, estimates about 171 million dollars (7 billion pesos) worth of bananas mostly for export in Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte were destroyed by the typhoon.
The area, where plantations owned by Dole Food Company Inc and Del Monte Pacific Ltd are located, accounts for almost a fifth of the country's total banana production.
Bopha has now weakened and is slowly moving north-northwest towards the South China Sea, with central winds of up to 110 Kph? and gusts of up to 140 Kph.
About 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, often causing death and destruction.
Almost exactly a year ago, Typhoon Washi killed 1,500 people in Mindanao, but most storms make landfall further north. (Reuters/NAN)