Hopes Fade for Scores Buried in Landslides Caused by Philippines Quake

Philippine rescue officials said Wednesday they are losing hope of finding anyone alive among 71 people still buried in landslides set off by a powerful earthquake. So far, 26 bodies have been recovered and identified.

President Benigno Aquino III flew to the disaster area in central Negros Oriental province and gave orders to speed up the reconstruction of roads and bridges that collapsed when the magnitude-6.9 quake struck Monday.

Civil defense chief Benito Ramos said the bridges were not built to sustain such a strong quake, while Aquino criticized the shoddy road construction.

Their statements came as survivors begged rescuers to keep searching for the people buried in landslides.

"Please do not give up, please continue searching," 47-year-old housewife Virginsita Magalso sobbed, her face streaked with dirt, as rescuers picked through mounds of dirt that covered the homes of family and friends.

"We can still save them, miracles happen all the time.”

Magalso said her 68-year-old mother, an older brother, his wife, and their two young children were among those buried when part of a hill collapsed on homes in the farming community of La Libertad on Negros.

Magalso's house was further down the slope, sparing her direct family certain death, she said.

Philippine seismologists say they were previously unaware of the undersea fault line that caused the temblor.