Heavy rain sent a torrent of earth, mud and rocks down on the village of Guinsaugon on Friday, which destroyed hundreds of homes and a school full of children. Only a few dozen were pulled out of the mud alive and the rescue workers are looking for up to 200 children who may be trapped in an elementary school, but rescuers are not optimistic about the hopes of finding anyone alive.

Search efforts have been further hampered by blocked roads, collapsed bridges and severed communication lines.

A C-130 transport plane with relief supplies landed at Tacloban's airport on Saturday morning. Military trucks would make the six-hour trip to Guinsaugon with medicine, rice and clothing sent by UNICEF and USAID.

The United Nations said it was sending a team to help local officials determine emergency needs and was making an immediate grant of US$50,000 as part of the international response.

In Geneva, the International Federation of the Red Cross said it feared the death toll would be high. It was sending body bags, emergency trauma kits, ropes, flashlights and other relief goods, as well as about US$150,000 in initial assistance.

Two US warships - the USS Essex and the USS Harper's Ferry - are due to reach Southern Leyte at daybreak on Sunday, said US charge d'affaires Paul Jones. He said the US had given US$100,000 worth of disaster equipment.

Filipino President Gloria Arroyo has said that people should be braced for "the prospect of more landslides."

BBC/Reuters