DUMAGUETE, Philippines - Rescuers in the Philippines are digging through rubble with shovels and their bare hands after a powerful earthquake triggered landslides, collapsed homes and killed dozens of people.
The 6.8-magnitude quake hit a narrow strait between the heavily populated islands of Negros and Cebu about noon on Monday with more than 200 aftershocks causing further panic during the day.
Military chiefs said 43 people were confirmed killed, but officials warned the death toll may rise. Dozens of others are feared injured or missing with landslides having blocked roads for rescuers in mountainous areas.
``Heavy equipment we've requested from the provincial government has not arrived yet, because the roads and bridges are impassable,'' Guihulngan police chief Alvin Futalan said.
``We are using our hands and shovels to search in the rubble.''
Thirty-nine people were reported killed in Guihulngan, a coastal city of 100,000 people flanked by mountains that was close to the quake's epicentre.
Mr Fatulan said the city's overwhelmed police rescue squad had been joined by hundreds of army troops and volunteers in clearing debris as they raced against time to find people still believed missing.
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