Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

38 people die in Philippine evacuation centers

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-16 16:11

TALAYAN, Philippines -- At least 38 homeless people including ten children have died in different evacuation centers amid the ongoing fighting between government troops and separatist rebels in the southern Philippines, witnesses said on Monday.

In a small marketplace where 1,257 families set up their make-shift dwellings in the township of Talayan, Maguindanao Province, 24 displaced people - six of whom are children - have died since August last year after the separates Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) launched attacks town and villages in the south, said Hassan Kalupa, a leader of the evacuees.

Kalupa said that most of the six children died of severe diarrhea two months ago.

The youngest of the victims was a ten-month-old baby girl, who died of pneumonia.

"The source of water is totally unacceptable. That's our problem here," Kalupa said.

In another evacuation camp in the province, Samin Kamsa, who works as volunteer for the evacuees, said that at least 14 people including four children have died over the past months.