MANILA, Philippines?Rescuers retrieved three more bodies from the sea Sunday, raising the death toll from typhoon Basyang (international name: Conson) here to 68, but more bad weather was hampering search operations.

"Three more bodies were recovered from a sunken fishing vessel," Benito Ramos, chief of the Office of Civil Defense in Manila, said on DZBB radio.

"The death toll is now 68."

He said rescuers, including volunteers and troops, continued to scour coastal areas in the country's southeastern seaboard Sunday, where the majority of the 84 still missing were reported.

"We are still hoping that they are still alive," Ramos said.

However, he said fresh rains brought on by a new weather disturbance east of the main island of Luzon were hampering search and rescue operations.

State weather forecasters however said it was unlikely to develop into a full-blown storm.

Basyang slammed into the country on Tuesday, directly hitting the capital Manila as it cut westward into the South China Sea with a ferocity that caught weather forecasters by surprise.

It caused massive power outages across Luzon, toppled power lines, uprooted trees, and destroyed thousands of homes.

Basyang brushed past the southeastern Chinese island of Hainan and barreled its way into Vietnam on Saturday.

It killed at least two people in China and wrecked several Vietnamese ships off the South China Sea, officials there said.