Few Found Alive After Mud Buries Town in Philippines

LILOAN, the Philippines, Feb. 18 — Rescuers struggling through soft, thick mud found bodies on Saturday but no more survivors of the mountain collapse that buried a southern Philippines town the day before, apparently killing almost all of its 1,800 residents.

Witnesses in Guinsaugon, about 14 miles from this small town and 400 miles south of Manila, said there was no longer any sign of the town — only what looked like a newly plowed field, with bits and pieces of roofing and debris from 375 destroyed homes sticking up through the mud.

Rescuers were having difficulty reaching Guinsaugon, on the island of Leyte, and when they arrived, they found their every effort hampered by the mud, which was at least 30 feet deep in some spots. Walking was nearly impossible, and bringing in heavy equipment to dig out survivors seemed out of the question.

"We presume that more or less than 1,800 are feared dead," said Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio, who was overseeing the rescue effort. The Associated Press reported that only 57 survivors and 55 bodies had been found out of a population listed as 1,857.

The colonel said that many more bodies had been found, but that rescuers — who were feeling bodies under their feet as they slogged through the mud — were trying to focus on the living.

"There's just too many dead bodies," he said. "For now, we are just leaving the dead because our main concern is to recover the survivors if there are any. If you ask me, hopes are dimming."

One survivor, Alfredo Guab, 27, told The A.P. that the inundation had taken no more than two minutes to bury the entire village.

Like other survivors, he said he heard what sounded like a loud explosion before the mud came cascading down.