Man under rubble may be alive nine days after quake

A builder may have survived for nine days under a mudslide triggered by the El Salvador earthquake.

Hopes rose after a rescue dog smelled something under the rubble where Luis Alberto Alas is thought to be trapped. Rescuers felt as if somebody was punching the ground below them.

The 39-year-old was building a balcony in the town of Santa Tecla on January 13 when an earthquake buried the area under a mountain of dirt.

Jimmy, a German Shepherd donated by the French government, indicated he smelled something under the ground where Mr Alas's wife Mercedes had told rescue crews to dig.

French volunteer Ivon Delsaut said: "We heard noises and it sounded like those noises could belong to a person."

Salvadoran Red Cross rescuer Jesus Balcaceres said: "It felt as if somebody was punching the ground below us."

Crews dug all night Sunday - but remained unsure if anyone was alive under the rubble.

Mrs Alas said: "I will never lose hope that he was under there alive.

"This was a construction site where there were many large objects that could protect my husband from the dirt."

Officials raised the quake's death toll to 710 after two more bodies were recovered in Las Colinas on Saturday and a third on Sunday.