LEAD: Rescuers race to find missing in Philippine quake, landslides

Feb 9, 2012, 9:49 GMT

Manila - Philippine rescuers on Thursday battled against time, rain and equipment shortages in their search for at least 71 people missing for three days in landslides caused by a magnitude-6.9 earthquake.

Thirty people have been confirmed killed in Monday's magnitude-6.9 earthquake, with more than half of the victims buried in landslides and the rest hit by collapsed walls or houses or falling rocks and objects.

Search operations for 29 missing in the village of Planas in Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental province, 570 kilometres south of Manila, were suspended Thursday after heavy rains and fears that the remaining part of the collapsed mountain would break off.

'The suspension is just temporary because it's dangerous for our rescuers,' civil defence chief Benito Ramos said.

Army Captain Anacito Naz said heavy equipment was being used in nearby La Libertad town to dig through more than 3 metres of soil in a landslide in the village of Solonggon, where 42 people are unaccounted for.

Rescuers have so far found only one body and animal carcasses, he said.

Naz said heavy equipment could not be brought to Planas village in Guihulngan City: 'The soil is too soft for the backhoe to reach the area.'

In Jimalalud town, rescuers retrieved four bodies buried in another landslide, bringing to 30 the official death toll in the quake, Ramos said.

'This was a small landslide that was just reported to us now,' he said. 'There are no reported missing in this landslide but we're checking to confirm this.'

Ramos earlier expressed fears that the chances of finding survivors were slim.

Authorities also rushed relief goods to survivors of the earthquake, which struck at 11:49 a.m. (0349 GMT) on Monday, damaging water supply systems, toppling electrical and communication posts and collapsing houses.

Negros Oriental suffered the most damage in the quake, with many roads suffering huge cracks and bridges collapsing. Stores and other commercial buildings remained closed three days after the quake amid fears that strong aftershocks could cause more damage.

The Philippines, located along the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' suffered its worst earthquake in 1990 when a 7.7-magnitude tremor killed nearly 2,000 people on the northern island of Luzon.