Rescuers search mountains for dozens missing after storm

MANILA, Dec 18 (AFP): Rescuers used bulldozers to dig through mountains of mud in the eastern Philippines to search for over 30 people missing after a powerful storm triggered landslides on the weekend, authorities said Monday.

Tropical Storm Kai-Tak continued to drag its way westward across the archipelago nation Monday after leaving at least 28 dead over the weekend from drowning and landslides, the government monitoring agency said.

Most of the dead were in the island province of Biliran, which suffered the worst of the landslides, with many homes buried. Rescuers searching for survivors on the island were not optimistic.

"There is an assumption that the missing are already dead," Sofronio Dacillo, a provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer told AFP.

The largely agricultural island of Biliran, with a population of over 140,000, also suffered massive damage to its roads, bridges and power system, which was knocked out on the weekend.