Dogs search for life in deadly Philippines landslide

Teams of search dogs from Spain fanned out across the site of a deadly Philippines landslide Tuesday in the hope of finding signs of life buried deep under piles of mud and rubble.

Search officials hope heavy overnight rain at the site of Friday's deadly mudslide will have washed away the scent of rescue teams, helping the dogs to do their work, CNN's Hugh Riminton reported Tuesday.

The rescue efforts Tuesday come amid hopes expressed by some officials that sophisticated sound equipment had detected signs of life at the site of a school where more than 240 children and seven teachers are thought to be buried.

But Riminton reported that other rescue officials are downplaying hopes of finding survivors, saying the sounds "could be just about anything."

The head of a rescue team of Filipino miners, Joel Son, told the AP on Tuesday that searchers hadn't yet reached the school.

U.S. Marines also set up seismic sensors Tuesday at the school site to listen for signs of life, The Associated Press reported.

Rescue teams worked under lights at the school site until 3 a.m. local time (1900 Monday GMT) and will resume digging again wherever the newly arrived dog teams find any human presence under the mud.

As morning broke Tuesday, Marines were flying in more helicopters and digging equipment in what has become an increasingly international rescue effort.

Apart from the U.S. military assistance, teams from Taiwan and Malaysia are already on site. Australia is also sending a five-person engineering team to help with with geotechnical work, reports CNN.

I.L.

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