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Philippines readies for mass burials as survivors beg

City officials estimate that they have collected 2,000 bodies but insist many more need to be retrieved. The UN fears that 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban city alone, but President Benigno Aquino has described that figure as “too much”.

Romualdez said the bodies lying on the grass outside city hall were waiting for the military to transport them to two burial sites – one for the identified and one for those whose names are not known.

While the retrieval operation gets going, there are growing fears for the health of those who survived.

The World Health Organization has said there were significant injuries that need to be dealt with – open wounds that can easily become infected in the sweltering tropical heat.

Experts warn that a reliable supply of clean drinking water is absolutely vital if survivors are not to fall victim to diarrhoea, which can lead to dehydration and death, especially in small children.

Pledges of help continued to come in from abroad, with Obama on Wednesday urging Americans that “even small contributions can make a big difference and help save lives”.

Along with ships and planes sent by an array of countries including Australia, Britain and Japan, the United States has dispatched an advance force of Marines equipped with cargo planes and versatile Osprey aircraft.

The USS George Washington carrier and other Navy ships are expected in the Philippines by Friday and Washington has committed $20 million, roughly half for food and the rest to prevent disease outbreaks.

One US official said relief workers were now able to get more aid out of Tacloban airport, and that the opening of a land route had given a significant boost by connecting to a sea port.

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The initial effort was “a lot like trying to squeeze an orange through a straw”, the official told reporters on a conference call. “We are now getting more straws, if you will, and bigger straws.”

However, hundreds of Philippine soldiers and police continue to patrol Tacloban’s streets and man checkpoints to try to prevent pillaging after outbreaks of lawlessness.

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