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 Scores of unidentified bodies were interred together Thursday in a
hillside cemetery without any ritual — the first mass burial in this
city shattered by last week's Typhoon Haiyan.
Six days after the disaster, some progress was being made in
providing food, water and medical aid to the half-million people
displaced in the Philippines. Massive bottlenecks blocking the
distribution of international assistance have begun to clear.
Soldiers on trucks gave out rice and water, and chainsaw-wielding
teams cut debris from blocked roads to clear the way for relief
trucks in Tacloban, the capital of the hardest-hit Leyte province.
Thousands of people continued to swarm Tacloban's damaged airport,
desperate to leave or to get treatment at a makeshift medical
center.
"We know the gravity of our countrymen's suffering, and we know
that, now more than ever, all of us are called on to do whatever we
can to help alleviate our countrymen's suffering," President Benigno
S. Aquino III said in a statement.
Authorities say 2,357 people have been confirmed dead, a figure that
is expected to rise, perhaps significantly, when information is
collected from other areas of the disaster zone.
With sweat rolling down their faces, John Cajipe, 31, and three
teenage boys who work at the Tacloban cemetery placed the first body
in the grave's right-hand corner.
The second body followed two minutes later, carefully placed
alongside the first. And so on, until scores of coffins filled the
6-foot (2-meter) deep grave. A ritual to sprinkle holy water on the
site is expected to be held Friday, one week after the typhoon
struck.
A portion of the femur was removed from each corpse by the National
Bureau of Investigation. Technicians will extract DNA from each bit
of bone to try to identify the dead, said Joseph David, crime
photographer for the bureau.
"I hope this is the last time I see something like this," said Mayor
Alfred Romualdez. "When I look at this, it just reminds me of what
has happened from the day the storm hit until today."
The massive flow of international aid was bolstered by Thursday's
arrival of the USS George Washington in the Philippine Sea near the
Gulf of Leyte. The aircraft carrier will set up a position off the
coast of Samar Island to assess the damage and provide medical and
water supplies, the 7th Fleet said in a statement.
The carrier and its strike group together bring 21 helicopters to
the area, which can help reach the most inaccessible parts of the
disaster zone.
The United Kingdom also is sending an aircraft carrier, the HMS
Illustrious, with seven helicopters and facilities to produce fresh
water, Britain's Ministry of Defense said. It said the ship is
expected to reach the area around Nov. 25.
The U.S. already has a half-dozen other ships — including a
destroyer and two huge supply vessels — in the area, along with two
P-3 aircraft that are being used to survey the damage so that
planners can assess where aid is most needed, the 7th Fleet said.
"We are operating 24-7," said Capt. Cassandra Gesecki, a spokeswoman
for the Marines, who have set up an operations hub near Manila's
international airport. "We are inundated with flights."
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Valerie Amos, the U.N. humanitarian chief who toured Tacloban on
Wednesday, said about 11.5 million people have been affected by the
typhoon, which includes those who lost loved ones, were injured, or
suffered damage to their homes or livelihoods.
"The situation is dismal. ... Tens of thousands of people are living
in the open ... exposed to rain and wind," she told reporters in
Manila.
She said the immediate priority for humanitarian agencies in the
next few days is to transport and distribute high-energy biscuits
and other food, tarpaulins, tents, drinking water and basic
sanitation services.
"I think we are all extremely distressed that this is Day 6 and we
have not managed to reach everyone," she said.
Amos said because of a lack of fuel in Tacloban, trucks are unable
to move the aid material from the airport to the city. The weather
also remains a challenge, with frequent downpours. The good news is
that the road to the airport has been cleared of debris, she said.
On Wednesday, the U.N.'s World Food Program distributed rice and
other items to nearly 50,000 people in the Tacloban area. Nearly 10
tons of high-energy biscuits were also delivered to the city on
Wednesday, with another 25 tons on the way.
But for thousands of people who have squatted in Tacloban's sports
arena, known as the Astrodome, no aid has arrived since the typhoon
struck. A volunteer from the village council handed out only stamps
for food that is yet to be seen.
The first nighttime flights — of C-130 transport planes — finally
landed since the typhoon struck, suggesting air control systems are
now in place for an around-the-clock operation, a prerequisite for
the massive relief operation needed.
Tacloban city administrator Tecson Lim said 70 percent of the city's
220,000 people are in need of emergency assistance, and that only 70
of the city's 2,700 employees have been showing up for work.
He also stuck to an earlier estimate that 10,000 people had died in
Tacloban even though Aquino has said the final death toll would top
2,500.
Philippine Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said it may take six
weeks before the first typhoon-hit towns get their electricity back.
In Tacloban, order needed to be restored "because if there's no
peace and order, it's hard to reinstall the power posts," he said.
[Associated
Press; KRISTEN GELINEAU, and
OLIVER TEVES]
AP writers Todd Pitman
in Tacloban and Chris Brummitt, Vijay Joshi and Teresa Cerojano in
Manila contributed to this report.
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