More Than 50 Dead, Dozens Missing in Philippines Landslide; Search Underway

More than 50 people have been confirmed dead, and dozens others are still missing in major landslide that wreaked havoc on the village in the southern Philippines. According to the local officials cited by reports, the search and rescue crew pulled out at least nineteen bodies from beneath the rubble in the southern mountain village of Masara on Sunday.

As many as 63 other miners and residents are still missing or trapped, the municipality of Maco, and provincial disaster official Randy Loy were quoted as saying.

Authorities vow to continue search and rescue operation

The deadly landslide buried under rubble a bus terminal for employees of a gold mining firm. At least 55 homes were impacted, injuring 32 people. The debris, trees and mud buried infrastructure 700m down a steep mountainside near the Apex Mining Co concession. Approximately 8.9-hectare section of the Masara community was buried under the mud. 

On Friday, crew pulled out a 3-year-old girl from the rubble, which rescuers called a “miracle.” The photos shared by the Philippine Red Cross on Facebook showed workers carrying the girl, wrapped in an emergency blanket and hooked up to an oxygen tank. They rushed her to a hospital in Mawab municipality.

The authorities vowed to continue their search and rescue operation until those missing were accounted for. Rain has battered the southern region for days making the search difficult as the loved ones gathered to find the bodies of their family members in a hope that they can still be saved. More than 1,100 families close to a gold mine in Masara and the surrounding areas have been evacuated to safe zones.

The poor weather coupled with heavy downpours risks further threats of more landslides, the officials say. As per the local official Edward Macapili, 300 men were leading the rescue effort, but it was unlikely that many would have survived.  "The rescue team is doing its best, even if it's very difficult,” he told Sky news.