Typhoon Death Toll Rises In Philippines

Rescuers scouring mountain villages buried under mud and boulders loosed by a powerful typhoon discovered more bodies Saturday, raising the death total to more than 300, with another 300 missing.

Officials fear the number of those killed by Typhoon Durian will rise as rescue operations continue in devastated villages on the slopes of the Mayon volcano, 210 miles southeast of Manila in the eastern Philippines.

The national Office of Civil Defense has reported 208 people dead, 261 missing and 90 injured.

But those figures included few of the 120 bodies found in the town of Guinobatan on the slopes of Mayon, where Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzalez said.

"We need food, tents, water, body bags," Philippine National Red Cross official Andrew Nocon told DZMM radio. "We sent initially 300 bags, but we need more."

Houses along the Yawa River in Padang, about 7 miles from Legazpi, the capital of worst-hit Albay province, were buried under five feet of mud with only roofs protruding.

Half of a 12-foot tall goal post at the local soccer field lay in debris from the Mayon volcano. Power pylons were toppled, and a two-lane highway became a one-lane debris-strewn road.

Officials feared the death toll would climb as more bodies, some badly mangled by rocks carried by the mud flows, were dug up.

In Padang alone, 28 bodies were recovered and photographed for identification by relatives, said Luis Bello, the mayor's aide.

The ash and boulders had been building high on the slopes of the 8,077-foot Mayon, which came to life in July. Typhoon Durian's blasts of wind and drenching rain raked it all down.

For nearly three hours late Thursday afternoon, mudslides ripped through Mayon's gullies, uprooting trees, flattening houses and engulfing people. Entire hamlets were swamped. Mass burials were expected to start as soon as Saturday.

Other deaths were reported elsewhere in the Bicol region, which includes Albay, 210 miles southeast of Manila.

"Every corner of this province has been hit. It is a total devastation," Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzalez said. "The water was unprecedented. Never before in the history have we seen water like this. Almost every residential area was flooded."

Padang residents Benjamin Luga, 70, and his wife Elizabeth, 62, said they escaped the onslaught by tearing down their bathroom ceiling and hiding in the roof. A big boulder halted just two yards from their house.

"First we heard the howling winds, then came the flood. It was water, sand, gravel and boulders," Mrs. Luga said.

"I thought this will fall," she said, tapping on the wall of her house, the floor covered in five feet of mud. "It was like an earthquake."

Mayon, a popular tourist attraction because of its nearly perfect conical shape, is one of the Philippines' 22 active volcanos. It erupted in July, depositing millions of tons of rocks and volcanic ash on its slopes, and has continued to rumble since then. Rains from succeeding typhoons may have loosened the materials, officials said.

A broken dike also flooded many parts of Albay, the local Red Cross said. It appealed for food, bottled water, blankets, mats and mosquito nets.

Canada donated US$876,000, the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department reported, while Japan said it would send US$173,000.