Rescuers call off dig for survivor

Rescuers have called off a frantic search for a Salvadoran building worker trapped for nine days under an earthquake-triggered mudslide.

The hunt for Luis Alas began after a dog smelled life under a mountain of dirt.

The 39-year-old had been building a balcony on a luxury home in the El Savador town of Santa Tecla on January 13 before the 7.6 magnitude earthquake.

His wife Mercedes had stood vigil over the spot where she believed her husband might be trapped since the quake, but searchers going over the area have found no trace of him.

The search began again when Jimmy, a German Shepherd donated by the French government, indicated he smelled something under the ground where Mercedes Alas had told rescue crews to dig.

"We heard noises and it sounded like those noises could belong to a person," said Ivon Delsaut, one of the French volunteers involved in the latest search.

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

But despite renewed efforts, crews have found no trace of anyone.

The last person pulled alive from the debris was Sergio Moreno, a 22-year-old keyboard player who was freed on January 14 after spending 31 hours trapped in the bathroom of his Las Colinas home. He died in hospital two days later.

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

The death toll also includes six victims in neighbouring Guatemala. The quake destroyed 141,000 Salvadoran homes and has left approximately 750,000 people homeless.