Rescuers, some using their bare hands, combed mud-stricken villages on the slopes of the Philippines’ Mayon volcano today, five days after a typhoon left a trail of destruction estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of national calamity today as the top Red Cross official estimated more than 1,000 people have been killed after a massive typhoon unleashed walls of black mud on entire villages.

Lava flowed a mile down the side of one of the most active volcanos in the Philippines today, as scientists met to decide if it was about to erupt.