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Dogs search for life under mudslideSound gear picks up 'tapping,' Philippine governor says
 Member of Malaysian search and rescue team listens for signs of life. RELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSGUINSAUGON, Philippines (CNN) -- Teams of search dogs from Spain are fanning 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 reports that other rescue officials are downplaying hopes of finding survivors, saying the sounds "could be just about anything." U.S. Marines also set up seismic sensors Tuesday at the school site to listen for signs of life, The Associated Press reports. 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. Earlier, Rosette Lerias, governor of Southern Leyte province, said Monday that sound-detection gear and seismic sensors brought in by U.S. and Malaysian forces had picked up sounds of scratching and rhythmic tapping. Lerias said prospects of finding survivors improved from a scant "1 percent" chance when rescuers picked up "a faint, rhythmic tapping" at 5 p.m. (0900 GMT, 4 a.m. ET). (Watch why a doctor said offering hope would be cruel -- 2:49) Two hours later "we received news that there was increased positive signs of life," AP quoted Lerias as telling reporters. "To me, that's more than enough reason to smile and be happy. The adrenaline is high as far as people are concerned." Earlier, officials said it was unclear whether the noises were made by survivors or settling earth. "We know there's something down there," U.S. Marine Lt. Richard Neikirk told AP. "The farther down we went, the signals grew stronger." A Malaysian team using sound-detection equipment also detected noises. "We have a sound," AP quoted Sahar Yunos of the Malaysia Disaster and Rescue Team as saying. "Knocking, something like that." At one point Monday, hopes were raised and then dashed that 50 survivors had been pulled from the school. "We have yet to recover any survivor," said Capt. Burrell Parmer, a spokesman for U.S. Marines taking part in the rescue operation. Parmer contradicted an earlier report from a Philippine government official who told ABS-CBN television that U.S. forces had pulled about 50 people from the school. "Our troops have found dead bodies," Reuters quoted Parmer as saying. "They dig with their bare hands and place them in body bags." There was no immediate explanation for how the report of survivors had spread. More than 240 children and seven teachers were beginning their lessons at the elementary school on Friday when the 800 meter (2,400 foot) Mount Kanabag turned into a wall of mud that wiped out Guinsaugon, a village of 1,800 people on the southern Philippine island of Leyte. Hopes of finding survivors at the school had been raised by unconfirmed reports that some of those inside had sent text messages to loved ones. A police officer told officials he watched helplessly as the school, which held his wife and four children, was entombed "in seconds." (Watch the massive swath of land the mud moved downhill -- 1:26) So far, about 100 bodies have been found, the Philippine disaster relief agency PDRT said Sunday. The death toll is expected to reach nearly 1,000. Officials have a list of at least 1,037 names of people who are missing, according to Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon. At least 35 people were injured in the disaster, Gordon said. No survivors have been found since Friday. Two U.S. warships were now anchored nearby and could provide hospital facilities for survivors if required, Riminton reported. Weakened by two weeks of steady rains, the mountain disintegrated and buried nearly 40 hectares (100 acres) of land in mud 30 meters (100 feet) deep in some areas. Only three of the village's 300 houses were not covered by the mud. Global effortFurther complicating relief efforts, Gordon said the village was so remote it takes five to six hours to get there from the nearest airport in Leyte's provincial capital, Tacloban. Tacloban is nearly 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of the Philippine capital Manila. Authorities had warned residents about the possibility of landslides after weather forecasters announced in early February that the "La Nina" effect would dump above-average rainfall in South Asia. The area has been deluged with more than 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rain this month, about four times the maximum of any previous month. Although some villagers had fled, many had returned to participate in a village celebration, Gordon said. The U.N. Organization for Humanitarian Affairs pledged an immediate $50,000 in aid, the Red Cross' Board of Governors offered $2 million, the Danish Red Cross pledged $200,000 and an Australian aid group offered about $740,000. The U.S. Agency for International Development authorized the U.S. Embassy in Manila "to disburse approximately $50,000 in disaster assistance," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday. The U.S. military has ships and several hundred troops in the region as part of a long-planned exercise. The Philippines has asked the United States for water, meals, boots, blankets, medicine and earth-moving equipment. CNN's Hugh Riminton contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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