Mudslide Buries Turkish Village; 300 Feared Dead

Half a million tons of mud and rock cascaded down a rain-soaked mountain Thursday and swept over this village near the Black Sea, killing up to 300 people, authorities said.

They said one body had been recovered and 18 people were hauled from the debris and treated for minor injuries. The Red Crescent, the Muslim equivalent of the Red Cross, said 300 people were feared dead.

The landslide hit Catak at 8 a.m., smothering restaurants, buses, cars and a school.

“There was big roar and then everything disappeared,” said villager Hamit Yilmaz, 70.

Some foreign tourists, traveling in five or six buses reported to be trapped, are believed among the dead, the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency said.

Smaller landslides continued, and rescue teams could not get close enough to start operations for four hours, it said.

Rescue work halted as dusk fell after repeated slides hampered efforts to clear debris.

Catak, 350 miles northeast of Ankara in a deep valley near the Black Sea port of Trabzon, was a scene of devastation. A 30-foot-mound of sodden debris covered a line of vehicles on a main road and enveloped scores of homes and businesses.

Halit Artaslanli said he raced out of one restaurant when he heard the roar of falling earth.

“There were about 40 people in the restaurant watching a video film. I don’t think many others got out,” he said.

Only a few houses were left intact. Many had roofs ripped off, and only the top of the schoolhouse was visible.

Trabzon Gov. Enver Hizlan said one body had been found.

The 18 people rescued were treated for minor injuries at an emergency field hospital.

The landslide struck eight hours after a smaller slide blocked the highway at Catak. The restaurants were packed with customers held up by an earlier slide.

“Somewhere between 100 and 150 people were believed to be inside the restaurants,” an official told reporters.