THICK mud and unceasing rain are complicating retrieval efforts for bodies buried in a landslide triggered by Typhoon “Agaton” in a town in Leyte.

Searchers were also combing the coastline of Pilar village in Abuyog town after some bodies were swept kilometers away by ocean currents.

More than 100 remained missing, and Abuyog Mayor Lemuel Traya told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) there was little hope of finding anyone else alive.

“This will not end soon; it could go on for days,” Traya warned.

The death toll from landslides and flooding unleashed by Agaton rose to 148 on Thursday, official figures showed, as more bodies were found in mud-caked villages.

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 Scores of people are still missing and feared dead after the strongest storm to strike the country this year dumped heavy rain over several days, forcing tens of thousands into evacuation centers.

In Leyte — the worst affected by the storm — devastating landslides smashed farming and fishing communities, wiping out houses and transforming the landscape.

The disaster-prone region is regularly ravaged by storms — including a direct hit from Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013 — with scientists warning they are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer because of climate change.

Emergency personnel in Abuyog have retrieved dozens of bodies from Pilar.

READ MORE: https://aseanews.net/2022/04/16/aseanews-headline-manila-mud-hampers-search-for-landslide-victims/