One of the most powerful typhoons on record has slammed into the Philippines, setting off landslides, knocking out power in one province and cutting communications in island regions.

LANDSLIDES and floods in the central Philippines have killed five children, including a 12-month-old baby and his sister, 5, who were buried under mud.

Landslides and floods after days of heavy rain in the central Philippines have killed five children.

Uncertain if they were even digging in the right place, rescue workers in the Philippines today tried to find a mud-swamped school mid fears that time already may have run out for finding survivors of a massive landslide.

Rescue workers held little hope today of finding more survivors from a devastating Philippines landslide, saying a farming village was swallowed whole by a wall of mud and boulders that killed up to 1,800 people.

A massive landslide rumbled down a mountainside on an eastern Philippine island today, burying hundreds of houses and a school packed with primary students. Red Cross officials estimated 200 people were dead and 1,500 others missing.

THE PHILIPPINE president yesterday flew to the devastated island of Leyte, where authorities declared a calamity following weekend floods and mudslides that killed at least 160 people in the region.