Rain Halts Search for Buried School

Rescue teams suspended their search for a buried elementary school today because heavy rain raised fear of more landslides.

Hillsides over the area where the school is believed to be buried could collapse at any time because of the wet conditions, Lt. Col. Raul Farnacio said. Searches continued in other areas.

The confirmed death toll in the landslide that buried this farming village rose to 122 today, with officials still fearing it could surpass 1,000.

In heavy rain, searchers earlier struggled to locate the school beneath tons of mud, still hoping against the odds that they would find survivors.

Rescue teams with dogs and sound detectors combed the muddy swamp covering the village of Guinsaugon. About 65 U.S. Marines in rubber boots and carrying picks and shovels were digging, and the American military planned to begin using a 2-ton drill in the afternoon.

Some searchers turned back because of the rain, which washed out a foot bridge and prevented use of an earthmover. Water flowed down a mountainside in one area, and there were signs of fresh landslides. A dump truck carrying a Taiwanese team got stuck in the river at Guinsaugon, and a Marine earthmover pushed it to the other bank.

Holes dug in the soft muck kept collapsing.

No one had been pulled out alive since the first hours after the disaster early Friday, which followed two weeks of heavy rain on Leyte island.

As many as 300 children and teachers are thought to have been trapped in the school.