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Sharp rise in typhoon toll feared

Padang (Philippines): Philippine rescuers shovelled away mud and boulders on Saturday to recover bodies from mudslides that smothered mountainside villages, as officials feared the death toll from a powerful typhoon could rise to 600.

Seas of thick black mud made the going tough for rescue workers, who were not believed to have pulled any survivors from the muck since the first hours after Typhoon Durian blasted ashore on Thursday with winds gusting upto 265 kmph.

The death toll surpassed 300, with another 300 missing and prospects dwindling fast for finding any of them alive. The first funerals were being carried out on Saturday evening.

The Disaster Coordination Council of worst-hit Albay province reported 236 dead, including 129 in the town of Guinobatan, swamped by floodwaters in the Mayon volcano's foothills. Three towns on Mayon's slopes, overwhelmed by mudslides of volcanic ash and boulders, each reported at least 22 dead.

Four other provinces reported fatalities, but accurate casualty figures were hard to come by, with the disaster's devastation so widespread and power and phone lines down.

AP

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