Hope fades as Philippines rescue efforts continue

Rescuers found only bodies today while searching the wreckage of last week’s deadly storms in north-eastern Philippines, but still hoped to find more trapped survivors – one day after pulling four of them alive from a mud-buried building.

At least 18 bodies – including those of six children – were dug out overnight from a collapsed building in Real, 40 miles east of Manila, said army Capt Gerry Sultan. The rescue came 10 days after the building was struck by a landslide.

“One of the bodies retrieved was of a man still clutching his child,” Sultan said. They were members of what appeared to be a family of six found lying close to one another in the mud.

Sultan said that since yesterday’s rescue, no voices or tapping – signals that lead to the discovery of the survivors – have been heard from the building. But rescue crews were not giving up hope, he said.

A total of 32 bodies have been plucked from the building since the army began retrieval operations on December 3, he said.

Freshly dug remains were dusted with lime, put in black body bags and lined side-by-side at the site, waiting to be identified by their loved ones. Some bodies were being buried along a nearby foreshore.

Meanwhile today, hundreds of US Marines sent to help the massive recovery effort began flying CH-46 transport helicopters with relief goods to Real and nearby towns from Clark Air Base, where they set up a base of operations, Marine spokeswoman Lt Jasmine Templeton said.