Chaos, fear, and desperation in Philippines, as society in island nation begins to unravel

November 12, 2013 – PHILIPPINES – Soldiers were forced to hold back thousands of desperate Filipinos as they rushed to board to military planes that could only evacuate a few hundred people from the typhoon-ravaged region. About 3,000 Tacloban residents walked for miles to queue for help at the airport but just two planes arrived to take survivors to Manila, the capital of Philippines. There were scenes of chaos and devastation as families, many of whom containing young children or elderly people, were held back by soldiers. When the two Philippine Air Force C-130s arrived, people surged forward past a broken iron fence, witnesses said. But only a few hundred made it aboard and the rest were left to wait in the rain, with few supplies. 

Thousands of bodies are being piled up on the streets after the devastating Typhoon Haiyan and aid agencies have warned the death toll will ‘rise sharply.’ Police and soldiers have the grim task of searching through the wreckage for bodies after entire villages and parts of cities were flattened. Makeshift mortuaries, set up in remaining intact buildings like churches, are overrun and body bags are being left outside in rows. Tens of millions of pounds worth of aid has been pledged by countries around the world and agencies say as many, as 10 million people in the developing country are in need of basic supplies such as shelter, clean water and food. Thousands of children have been killed in the category-five storm and one charity worker said two out of every five corpses she had seen were youngsters. –Daily Mail