GUINSAUGON, Philippines (AFP) – Rescuers Sunday picked through a sea of mud in search of survivors after a massive landslide buried 1,400 Philippine villagers, but officials conceded hope was all but lost.

More than 48 hours after a mountainside collapsed, sending a wall of mud and boulders crashing into the village of Guinsaugon, rescuers roped together for safety hunted in vain for survivors but found only a few bodies in the muck.

“I don’t think we can find anybody alive,” said Felix Lim, vice-mayor of St Bernard, which includes the now obliterated village on the central island of Leyte.

“The mud is just too deep,” he said. “That’s the hard truth we have to face.”

Health department official Cornelio Solis, asked by AFP if anyone could have survived, said: “By this time I don’t think so. There is no way they could survive this by now.

“I have been to ground zero, and there is water and mud seeping through.”

US Marines arrived at the scene Sunday along with a Malaysian medical team, part of an international outpouring of aid and sympathy for the disaster-prone nation.

Greece offered euro300,000 (US$358,000) to the Philippines on Sunday to help with emergency relief and condolences to the families of some 1,400 victims.

Canada is prepared to send help for victims, officials announced late Saturday, while expatriates have begun raising money to send relief aid back home soon, according to reports.

Pope Benedict XVI prayed Sunday for the victims, saying that “our hearts turn to all those suffering.”

Communist guerrillas active throughout Leyte promised in a statement not to attack the American forces as long as they stay within the disaster area.

President Gloria Arroyo insisted she had not given up hope. “All government resources are continuously being exhausted as we continue to hope to find more survivors,” she said.

The head of the rescue effort, Major General Bonifacio Ramos, said the soft mud made it impossible to get heavy equipment onto the site, where an entire school with 200 students and 40 teachers was among buildings buried.

“The mud is like quicksand,” Ramos said. “We can’t move very fast and it’s very difficult.” In some places the soil was said to be 30 metres (100 feet) thick.

Work stopped Sunday as night fell since lighting at the scene has not yet been installed.

After two weeks of abnormally heavy rain, the mountainside collapsed onto the village on Friday morning, covering an area of nine square kilometres (3.5 square miles) with mud and huge boulders.

Rescue efforts were focused on the presumed site of the elementary school and the village hall, but progress was slow.

“We need special drilling equipment to detect if there is still signs of life underneath,” said Ramos. A specialist Taiwan rescue team was due to arrive later.

Relatives clung to fading hopes.

“My family, where is my family? I know they are there,” wept Elsa Timbang, scrutinising lists of survivors in vain. The nanny returned from Britain to her home village on hearing news of the disaster.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said 65 bodies had been recovered, 20 people were rescued injured from the scene and 410 people who were away from the village at the time also survived.

About 1,400 remain missing based on the latest population estimate for Guinsaugon, although some local officials put the figure much higher.

The bodies of 29 unidentified victims were to be buried in a mass grave Sunday for health reasons.

Arroyo has warned that the Philippines could face more landslides amid forecasts of further heavy rain and promised to help threatened areas adopt safety precautions.

Eleven villages near Guinsaugon have been evacuated.

A 50-strong contingent of US Marines arrived late Saturday from Japan and some inspected the village Sunday to assess needs.

“This is total devastation, it’s just acres and acres of mud and rock and that is all you see,” said Lieutenant Joel Coots.