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Mudslide Buries Community in Southern Philippines

by Reuters

   MANILA --

   A mudslide triggered by heavy rain has buried dozens of houses in a
   farming community in the southern Philippines, local disaster officials
   said on Friday.

   Soldiers and emergency workers rushed to a remote village in the Tubod
   region in Lanao del Norte province, expecting to find casualties from
   landslides and massive flooding, local disaster official Roy Secuya
   told journalists.

   "We have no contact with village officials because power and
   communications lines were down due to a tropical storm," Secuya said.
   "There were unconfirmed reports of deaths but we still do not have the
   numbers."

   Heavy equipment was being sent to the area, he added. Tropical storm
   Tembin has weakened after hitting land on the island of Mindanao. Local
   officials said seven people had been killed by flooding in Lanao del
   Sur province.

   Reporting By Manuel Mogato; Editing by Kevin Liffey.