Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990 TAG: 9007200605
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BAGUIO, PHILIPPINES LENGTH: Medium
The crash of the observation aircraft was in the heart of the quake zone near the mountain resort of Baguio on Luzon island, 110 miles north of the capital Manila, the U.S. Embassy said.
Officials said at least 224 people - including two Americans - were killed in Baguio during Monday's earthquake, which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale.
Jose de Jesus, chairman of the presidential task force supervising rescue efforts in Baguio, said Marines and Philippine troops had begun operations to rescue more than 100 people believed stranded on highways near Baguio.
Heavy casualties also were concentrated in Cabanatuan, 60 miles north of Manila, where more than 60 students and teachers were killed at the Philippine Christian College.
One girl who was injured at the college told ABS-CBN television today that her class was in the middle of a lesson on earthquakes when the quake struck and the classroom collapsed.
The latest official figures say 659 people died and more than 1,300 were injured in the earthquake. About 190 people were believed buried in ruins of seven hotels and in a factory in Baguio that caught fire after the quake, de Jesus said. Rescuers fear most are dead.
The Marine OV-1 light observation plane crashed while searching the mountains for motorists and others stranded along highways closed by landslides during the quake.
One crewman was killed and the other was airlifted to a U.S. military hospital, the U.S. Embassy said. Their names were not released pending notification of relatives.
Officials said the aircraft was from the U.S.-run Subic Bay naval base 50 miles west of Manila.
by CNB