Philippines rescuers hear 'signs of life'
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-21 08:36

There was no visible sign of the school. Rescue workers were digging at two places — one where the school was believed to have sat close to the mountain, the other 200 yards down the hill, where the landslide could have carried it.

Dozens of US Marines and Philippine soldiers, along with local miners, were digging in a watery, boulder-strewn spot around the school's original site, using shovels on the muck and moving it with body bags, while draining the murky water in large bottles.

The search was a painstaking process as the crews went yard by yard. At one of the highest points, local troops planted a Philippine flag.

The Marines were from the five-man Third Intelligence Ground Sensor platoon, accompanied by 15 armed Marines.

They deployed nine seismic sensors that can detect vibrations underground. With everyone standing still, one man then used a steel bar to hit on a rock several times and waited for any kind of response underground.

Four sensors detected some "noise" or vibration, but the men could not tell what it was.

They were followed by the 15-man Malaysian team using sensor gear called Delsar and employing similar techniques.

Five Taiwanese, who brought heat-imaging equipment, arrived to check for signs of life, too. Rescuers radioed for water pumps and floodlights to continue working after dark.

President Bush called Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Monday to express sympathy for the disaster.

"The president offered our sincerest condolences over the loss of life," his press secretary, Scott McClellan, told reporters as the president traveled to the Midwest to make a policy speech on energy issues.

Some officials were talking about leaving the village as a massive cemetery, similar to tsunami-ravaged areas elsewhere in Southeast Asia where digging out bodies was simply too difficult and dangerous. With no one left to claim them, unidentified bodies already are being buried in mass graves.

"We will still search continuously, but we should be prepared that ... you're going to have a mass grave right there," said Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross. "How can you retrieve those who were buried so deep?"

Philippine military officials had feared 1,800 people, virtually the entire population of Guinsaugon, died. But Gov. Lerias said Monday that 82 people were confirmed dead and 928 were missing.

Official figures of how many survivors were pulled from the mud on Friday have also differed, with counts ranging from 20 to 57.