Search and rescue efforts bolstered in Philippine disaster

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say at least 56 people have been killed and 28 remain missing in landslides and floods after a summer tropical depression unleashed pounding rain in the central and southern Philippines. Officials said nearly 200 villagers were injured mostly in the landslides in the hard-hit city of Baybay in central Leyte province. More rescuers and heavy equipment, including backhoes, arrived in the landslide-hit villages in Baybay. Its mayor, Jose Carlos Cari, said the weather cleared Wednesday, allowing the search and rescue work to go full force. Forty-seven of the dead were recovered from the landslides that hit six Baybay villages, while nine others drowned in floodwaters in four central and southern provinces.