Mass burial, more desperation in typhoon-struck Philippines

TACLOBAN, Philippines -- Workers in this typhoon-shattered city buried scores of unidentified bodies in a hillside mass burial yesterday as desperately needed aid began to reach some of the half-million displaced people.

Dozens more bodies were lined up in bags outside Tacloban City Hall waiting to be taken to burial sites. Six days after Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines, many of the dead were still lying along roads as survivors searched for bodies buried under the rubble.

Philippine soldiers on trucks distributed rice and water as chainsaw-wielding teams cut debris from blocked roads.

The USS George Washington aircraft carrier arrived in the Philippine Sea near the Gulf of Leyte and will set up a position off the coast of Samar Island to assess the damage and provide medical and water supplies, the 7th Fleet said in a statement. The carrier and its strike group brought 21 helicopters to the area, which can help reach the most inaccessible areas.

Authorities say 2,357 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, but that figure is expected to rise, perhaps significantly, when information is collected from other areas of the disaster zone.

In a mass burial, scores of bodies in leaking black bags were lowered into graves without any prayers being said.

"I hope this is the last time I see something like this," said Mayor Alfred Romualdez.

A domed sports arena in Tacloban, called the Astrodome, gave shelter to thousands of people during the storm. Now, it is filled with rain-soaked trash and a stench. Exhausted refugees sprawl across seats, miserable and hungry.

Just as New Orleans residents took refuge in the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, thousands of Filipinos are squatting inside the stadium, in the ruined shops and restaurants that line it, and under tarpaulins on the grass outside.

The people find water wherever they can -- from a broken water pipe on the side of the road, from a tarp in a former office building nearby. It tastes bad -- salty -- but there is nothing else available.

Maria Consuelo Martinez, 38, is nine months pregnant and jammed in an abandoned restaurant at the dome along with five families. Flies are everywhere and the tiled floor is slick with filth.

Her husband wanders around, begging for food. Some friends found sacks of ocean-soaked rice at a warehouse and gave the family one. They are drying the grains in the sun, hoping it will be edible.