25 killed, 100 missing in Philippine landslide
At least 25 people were killed and about 100 others missing in the southern Philippines on Thursday after a landslide struck a community of gold prospectors, officials said.
The landslip hit a remote mountain community on Mindanao island that was declared off-limits last year due to the ever-present danger of landslides, but migrants in search of instant riches had ignored the warning, they added.
Rescuers using only spades and other hand tools pulled 25 bodies and 15 injured residents from the rubble after the landslide in Napnapan near Pantukan town at dawn, said civil defence chief Benito Ramos.
Local military official Colonel Lyndon Paniza, who is coordinating the rescue from Pantukan, about two hours away via rugged mountain roads, said rescuers fear there could be more fatalities. “We expect many were killed since the worst-hit was the middle, where there are more than 50 shanties,” said Paniza. The landslide buried an area measuring about 7,500 square metres as people slept, Paniza added.
Provincial governor Arturo Uy said more than 100 people were believed to be still buried under the collapsed mountainside. Ramos said the number of missing was an estimate based on figures from officials.
