Philippine workers rush to clear mountain roads

       Rescuers dug out six survivors and more bodies buried under landslides that killed at least 225 people in the storm-soaked northern Philippines, as workers rushed yesterday to clear mountain roads to aid relief efforts.
       US military helicopters were on standby to help the Philippine air force deliver aid to areas cut off by road as flooded highways hampered the search for people trapped in houses buried by mud. Several choppers flew over areas yesterday where US troops planned to conduct medical missions and deliver supplies.
       The rain-triggered landslides late on Thursday and early Friday were the latest natural disaster to hit the Philippines,bringing to more than 600 the total death toll of back-to-back storms that began pummelling the main island of Luzon on Sept 26, causing the worst flooding in more than 40 years.
       Rescue operations were centred on two vast areas - the severely flooded Pangasinan province northwest of Manila, and a swath covering the worst landslide-hit provinces of Benguet,Mountain Province and the resort city of Baguio, where most deaths occurred.
       A 17-year-old boy was rescued from the rubble in his home in Baguio late on Friday, and five others were pulled out alive in Mountain Province, said regional civil defence official Olive Luces.
       Yesterday, only more bodies were pulled from under tons of mud and rocks,but Ms Luces said,"We are hopeful that we will get more people alive."
       She said local officials reported 152 bodies have so far been recovered in Benguet and 23 in Mountain Province in the country's Cordillera region on the main Philippine island of Luzon after landslides. She corrected an earlier figure of 60 bodies recovered in Baguio city,saying officials reported only 50 had been found.
       Aside from the 197 who died in the landslides late on Thursday and early Friday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said 51 people from eight other provinces also were killed after Typhoon Parma made landfall on Oct 3,weakened into a tropical depression and dumped more rain as it lingered over the northern region for about 10 days.
       A week earlier, Tropical Storm Ketsana left 337 people dead in the worst floods to hit Manila and nearby provinces in four decades.
       The sun was peeking through the clouds over Baguio and volunteers, mostly miners, were taking advantage of the relatively good weather to step up the search for survivors, Ms Luces said. She also called on local communities to help clear debris blocking the roads.
       Army engineers were trying to remove mounds of mud and boulders on one road to Baguio. The regional centre has been isolated since Thursday's landslides.The Public Works Department was clearing debris on another highway to the city, but a 25-metre section of that mountain road had been washed away, cutting off all traffic, she said.
       Mayor Artemio Galwan of La Trinidad township in Benguet province said 78 bodies have been recovered there. He appealed for shovels and other tools as well as portable spotlights to allow volunteers to continue digging at night.