Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Saturday ordered various government agencies and the military to quicken the rescue operation and relief efforts in the wake of a devastating landslide which officials said buried at least 1,500 people in a village in Southern Leyte, central Philippines on Friday.

At an emergency meeting on the landslide she chaired at the Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in Metro Manila, Arroyo also thanked the international community for their solidarity and support.

At the meeting which was covered direct by television and other media, Arroyo was briefed by officials of the government agencies working under the National Disaster Coordination Council (NDCC), who said that 36 bodies have been found in the quagmire of landslide burial ground so far.

The NDCC also pegged the number of rescued survivors at 80 while 1,500 are still missing.

Arroyo thanked the international community including the International Red Cross, United Nation Children's Fund and the U.S. government pledged their help for the victims of the tragedy.

Disaster officials said they have created two teams to concentrate on the search and rescue operations in the town of St. Bernard, where the disaster took place.

They also said hundreds of villagers from 11 villages in the region have been evacuated and seven centers have been set up to shelter the evacuees, in fear that more landslide could strike. Some 3,000 villagers in that area have lost homes due to other smaller scale landslides.

U.S. Charge d'Affaires Paul Jones, who also attended the meeting, said the United States government has pledged 100,000 U.S. dollars of aid for the victims and could send troops to the disaster site to join humanitarian operations.

Source: Xinhua