The death toll in a magnitude-6.9 earthquake in the central Philippines rose to 41, with 67 people still missing and feared dead, the Office of Civil Defence said Sunday. The toll rose after rescue teams recovered two bodies from landslides caused by February 6 quake in Negros Oriental province, 570 kilometres south of Manila. The civil defence office said 28 were still missing in the village of Planas in Guihulngan City and 39 in the village of Solonggon in nearby La Libertad town. Rescue operations were being hampered by strong aftershocks and intermittent heavy rains threatening to cause more landslides, authorities were quoted as saying by DPA.
