Manila: At least six people were killed and 46 others are missing after a massive landslide struck a gold-mining village in southern Philippines, according to officials on Wednesday. The landslide struck buses and houses and injured several people, and it is unclear how many people have been trapped in their homes.
Army troops, police and volunteers rescued 31 villagers who were injured when the landslide hit the mountain village of Masara in the remote town of Maco in Davao de Oro province on Tuesday night. They resumed the search on Wednesday morning after suspending it the night before due to fears of more landslides, according to officials.
At least 27 miners who were waiting to be driven home in two parked buses when the landslide hit in clear weather are among the 46 missing, said Davao de Oro provincial spokesperson Edward Macapili. Eight miners who were among those waiting jumped out of the bus windows or dashed away and survived.
Torrential rains that have swamped the region on and off in recent weeks have eased and the weather was clear in the previous three days, Macapili said. Additionally, regional military spokesperson Colonel Rosa Rosete-Manuel said three seriously injured victims will be evacuated by helicopter.
The military earlier reported a higher number of missing and surviving miners, saying impassable roads and poor communication lines were hampering efforts to get more specific details from the village. About 600 villagers living near the landslide-hit area have been evacuated to safer communities.
Earthquakes in recent months had damaged buildings in the southeastern region, and more than a dozen villagers have died in recent weeks from flooding and landslides, according to disaster-response officials. A landslide buried a house and killed 10 people last month in Monkayo town, also in Davao de Oro province, officials said.
The rains were sparked by what local forecasters call a shear line, a point where warm and cold air meet. At least 20 storms and typhoons lash the Philippine archipelago each year, especially during the rainy season that starts in June.
(AP)
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