Deadly Landslide Hits Philippines

A landslide hit the Philippines on Thursday in the 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, civil defence chief Benito Ramos said.

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.

Provincial governor Arturo Uy said more than 100 people were believed to be still buried under the collapsed mountainside.

Ramos, however, said the number of missing was an estimate based on figures from village officials.
The provincial government and local mining companies have been asked to bring heavy equipment up to the village to help speed up the rescue.

The area had been hit by rains unleashed from a storm off Mindanao's southeast coast, the state weather service said.