Hopes of pulling more survivors from a building that collapsed 12 days ago in a fierce storm in the northern Philippines dwindled on Saturday as private rescuers ended work, saying they had explored all possible areas. Rain fell as miners from private firms prepared to leave the site, but soldiers said they would continue excavating bodies from the rubble as long as it was still safe to do so. "In our assessment, the basement where we expected there may still be survivors, we think there's no more hope. They're all dead," said Joel Son, an engineer who headed the miners' group. Son said the miners had dug holes in the basement area but had failed to detect any sign of life. About 120 people were believed to have been using the structure as a storm shelter. Nearly 1,800 people are dead or missing in eastern and northern provinces on Luzon island after a typhoon and three tropical storms in two weeks set off torrents of water, mud, boulders and logs that swept away villages and bridges. At least three million Filipinos have been affected. With disease a major worry, relief efforts are focused on getting food, clean water, medicine and shelter to 650,000 of the most desperate by helicopter, boat and on foot. On Thursday soldiers and miners searching the collapsed building in Real found a child, her grandmother and two teenaged boys alive 10 days after they were buried in the rubble. --more 1228 Local Time 0928 GMT
