Philippine villagers refused to flee storm

Police Senior Inspector Heherson Zambale said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that he was stunned after learning the landslide had covered a chapel and bunkhouses in the mountain village.

He and other officials had met with some of the victims a day before the tragedy struck on Saturday.

Typhoon Mangkhut, the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines this year, left at least 81 people dead and 70 missing, mostly in the avalanche in the gold-mining town of Itogon in Benguet province.

The storm later blew on to Hong Kong and southern China, where it caused more deaths and damage.

Zambale said he and other local officials tried to convince the villagers, mostly small-scale miners and their families, to move to an evacuation centre as the typhoon approached.

A villager officer who accompanied Zambale used a megaphone to warn people that Mangkhut was extraordinarily powerful and everybody should leave.

The villagers told police they thought the chapel and nearby bunkhouses were on stable ground, and that they would only move if the storm became severe, Zambale said.

He said he saw about 15 villagers outside the chapel and bunkhouses.

"Some were smiling and there were some who were just quiet. Some were listening to us," he said.

Police photographs showed the officers in hard hats and raincoats talking with the villagers outside the concrete chapel and nearby bunkhouse, with piles of sandbags nearby.

Zambale said he had a bad feeling about the clearing where the buildings stood near a river, surrounded by mountains.

Some villagers heeded the warnings and left before the typhoon struck.

"But many were left behind," Zambale said.

Rescuers have recovered 14 bodies from the avalanche and at least 58 other people remain missing, he said.

Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said on Monday it was unlikely any of the missing were still alive.

Regional police commander Rolando Nana said a special police unit scanned the landslide-hit area with radar that can detect heart beats, but found no sign of life.

As more than 300 rescuers, including police and soldiers, used shovels and picks to search for the missing, Zambale said he still remembered the faces of the villagers he tried to convince to flee.

"I really feel sad, I cannot describe the emotion," he said. "It's not only the people who don't listen. They have children, wives, elderly parents who will all suffer."

Australian Associated Press