Death toll in Philippine garbage collapse nears 200

MANILA, Philippines - Two foreigners believed to be German aid workers were among nearly 200 people killed last week when a mountain of waste collapsed on shanties next to Manila's biggest garbage dump, the military said Monday.

The new information came as the official death toll in the collapse grew to 196. Estimates of those still missing under the tons of rotting, stinking garbage range from 140 to 500.

The still-unidentified bodies of the foreigners were found in the past week, said Maj. Valeriano Inocencio of the military's Civil Relations Service, which is helping to search for victims. He said residents described them as German nationals who were sponsoring scholarships for children of poor families, but could not identify them further.

Inocencio said authorities interviewed at least one resident who claimed to have guided the Germans around the impoverished squatters' community, called the Promised Land. And Greg Banacia, a spokesman for the local government, said officials reported there was at least ''one Caucasian, probably German, in the vicinity of the July 10 tragedy.''

Lars Leymann, second secretary of the German Embassy in Manila, said he was not aware of any missing Germans. Other embassy officials were unavailable for comment.

On Sunday, 18 more badly mangled bodies were pulled from the mountain of garbage.

At least 187 bodies have now been recovered since the trash collapsed. In addition, nine people who were rescued earlier and taken to hospitals have also died, Inocencio said. He said 61 of the victims are still unidentified.

Officials do not know how many people are still missing under the tons of debris at the Payatas sump, part of Quezon City in metropolitan Manila. ''People here come and go,'' Inocencio said.

Local residents say up 500 people are still missing, while local officials estimate the number at about 140.

Inocencio said searchers have only been able to dig through about one-fifth of an estimated 150 feet of garbage. He said the searchers are being rotated every hour to prevent overexposure to the stench and the harmful gases emitted by the decaying garbage.

The Quezon City Disaster Operations Center reported that 2,760 people have been evacuated from the community, including many from areas threatened by the possible collapse of another portion of the garbage mountain.

The Payatas dump, along with a former dump in Manila's Tondo slum district called Smokey Mountain, long has symbolized the wrenching poverty in the Philippines. On Saturday, residents of the Payatas community announced they will file a class action suit against the government, garbage contractors and local officials, charging them with negligence.

''We want justice for the victims,'' said human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong, head of the Public Interest Law Center.

Meanwhile, garbage began to pile up on some Quezon City streets after Payatas was closed to new dumping Friday.

Manila is facing a growing garbage crisis. Surrounding towns have refused to allow the construction of new dumps, and a Clean Air Act passed last year forbids the use of garbage incinerators.