Philippines typhoon: Rescuers race to find landslide survivors

Tuesday marked three days since the partial collapse of a mountainside in the Cordillera region of northern Luzon released tonnes of mud and rocks onto the mining town of Itogon, destroying hundreds of homes and burying dozens.

So far 14 bodies have been recovered from the site, some buried by the mud, others thrown from their homes during the landslide. Three people have been rescued from under the rubble alive.

People look at the landslide site in Itogon as rescuers used shovels and their bare hands to claw through mounds of rocky soil.

Rescue efforts are now centering on a partially submerged forming miners' bunkhouse, believed to have been used by families as a storm shelter during the typhoon.

Unable to bring in heavy machinery due to the terrain, teams are having to work with shovels in what has become a difficult, grueling search.

"The national police came to warn the people. They thought it was safe here in the bunkhouse, so the people came right here to stay for safety reasons," said Rodel Olina, who works as a miner and is now helping with the rescue effort.

Rescuers dig on the remains of a building which was swept away by the landslide.

"Some of my cousins are there -- we don't know. So we continue to recover them," said Olina.

Initially the recovered bodies had been carried up the hill in a two-hour hike, but rescuers have now devised a rope system, enabling them to pull the remains of those found up to where family members are waiting for news. Medical personnel are also on hand in the event survivors are found.

Rescuers dig at a landslide site where dozens of residents are believed to have been buried.

Storm toll rises

On Tuesday presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that, across Luzon -- the largest and most populous island in the Philippines -- 63 people had died, 42 were injured and 49 still missing as a result of Mangkhut's destructive streak across the country.

In Itogon, family members and officials continue to hold out hope that survivors will be located.

Workers from the mining community have joined forces with government rescuers to redouble efforts to locate those still missing and believed trapped.

"This is the first time I've seen this kind of landslide. It's massive, and almost everyone is affected. Even the miners are helping the rescuers, the police -- everyone is giving their best," one rescuer said.

On Monday, as rescuers scrambled to find the missing, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu ordered a stop to all small-scale mining operations in the Cordillera region, according to CNN affiliate CNN Philippines.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte would visit the province of Isabela later today, Roque said. Isabela itself didn't suffer any casualties but was heavily damaged.

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