The search for about 1,350 people still missing after a massive landslide buried Guinsaugon village in St. Bernard town, Southern Leyte, was hampered yesterday by bad weather but got a boost with the arrival of American marines with modern rescue equipment, Geevy Gregorio, Philippine National Red Cross Negros chief, said.

Gregorio, along with five PNRC Negros rescuers, have joined foreign and local teams in search of the missing.

The villagers are buried 30 meters deep and the terrain is slippery and dangerous, it is difficult to reach them, Gregorio said.

The rains also threatens more landslides that could endanger the rescuers, he said. He said the Negrense rescuers were among those in the frontline, along with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

There are reports of some people still alive beneath the mud because of the reaction of sniffing dogs to human heat, he said. However, these are all unconfirmed, we just don't want to lose hope but the longer the rescue takes, the slimmer the chances of finding people alive, he said.

Edyll Tan of the PNRC in Negros said, as of press time last night, 85 bodies had been recovered, 13 of which were found yesterday, and one half of a body.

The civil defense office said 434 people survived the disaster, including 19 who sustained injuries, he said.*CPG

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GUINSAUGON -- The US military said yesterday it was committing up to 3,000 troops to help as the hunt for survivors became a grim search for bodies instead.

Rescuers yesterday located the site of a school believed to contain some 200 students and 40 teachers in the village of Guinsaugon on Leyte island. "They have discovered a trace of the school building," Joseph Chang, coordinator for a specialist Taiwan rescue team, told AFP, adding that crews have now pinpointed its location under tons of mud and rocks.

But Chang said he had no idea when rescuers might be able to dig down to it.

Rain which is churning up the already unstable ground had delayed efforts even to locate buried buildings, let alone uncover them.

"Yesterday we placed markers on an area which we thought was the school, using a triangulation method, but right now you can't see the markers. It has changed drastically," said Hector Reyes, team leader of the Philippine Canine Search and Rescue Team, earlier yesterday.

"There's still water under the rubble and it's very dangerous. Anytime, any of the mounds could collapse."

About 2,500 to 3,000 US troops, more than half the soldiers assigned to a joint anti-terrorism exercise with Philippine forces, were diverted to help the rescue, US Brigadier General Mastin Robeson announced in Manila.

He said up to 500 troops could be deployed in Guinsaugon, while the rest would man three ships to ferry relief supplies.

At the site of the obliterated village an advance force of US Marines, the Taiwanese team equipped with sonar and video equipment and a Malaysian unit joined Philippine teams in the search.

"It is unlikely anyone could have survived under 30 meters of mud for three days," said one official, declining to be identified.

"There appears to be no sign of life at the moment. Any oxygen that may have been trapped in spaces may have been finished off." *AFP

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