Distraught survivors searched piles of bodies for the faces of their loved ones in the central Philippines on Saturday after landslides triggered by Typhoon Durian left hundreds dead.
Durian moved into the South China Sea on Friday after affecting 800,000 people in the Philippines and was expected to weaken into a tropical storm before hitting Vietnam on Monday. Villages were engulfed on Thursday around Mount Mayon, an active volcano about 320 km (200 miles) south of Manila, when driving rain and winds of up to 225 kph (140 mph) dislodged tonnes of mud and boulders from the slopes.
The national disaster agency said a total of 303 people had died in eastern provinces, 285 in Albay alone. At least 293 people were missing. The toll was rising sharply as rescue workers, some using their bare hands, pulled corpses and body parts from the mud. Thousands of survivors crammed into schools and churches as disaster agencies called for fresh water, food and medicine.
Pope Benedict offered prayers for the mainly Roman Catholic country. Canada said it was giving C$1 million ($873,000) to the relief effort and Japan pledged $173,000.
Nearly 45,000 people were left homeless and entire communities isolated after power lines and phone links were knocked out and bridges washed away.