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20240208-via-Eastern-Mindanao-Command-3

Pam CASTRO

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/20240208-via-Eastern-Mindanao-Command-3.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Rescue operations in Zone 1, Brgy. Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro, where a rain-induced landslide killed at least 11 people. <em>Eastern Mindanao Command.</em></span><em> </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- Rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to dig through mud on Thursday in a desperate search for survivors of a landslide that has killed 11 people in the Philippines, officials said.</p><p>Two days after the rain-induced landslide hit the mountainous gold-mining village of Masara on southern Mindanao island, searchers were in a race against time and weather.</p><p>Latest figures from the local municipal government showed that 11 people were killed, 31 injured and 110 were still missing after the landslide destroyed houses and engulfed three buses and a jeepney on Tuesday night. The destroyed vehicles had been waiting for workers from a nearby gold mine.</p><p>&quot;It is everybody&#x27;s hope that people are still alive,&quot; disaster agency official Edward Macapili of Davao de Oro province told AFP.</p><p>&quot;Our rescue team is in a hurry because every second counts when it comes to human life.&quot;</p><p>The landslide left a deep, brown gouge down the mountain. Rescuers pulled a person alive from the mud 11 hours after it hit, Macapili said.</p><p>&quot;So there&#x27;s a chance,&quot; he added.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/7/marcos-authorizes-release-of-p265-million-for-davao-flood-landslide-victims-1732">Marcos OKs release of P265 million for Davao flood, landslide victims</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/7/1-2m-individuals-affected-by-mindanao-floods-dswd-1447">1.2 million people affected by recent flooding in Mindanao: DSWD</a></div><p>Police, soldiers and rescuers from Davao de Oro and the adjacent Davao del Norte province have been deployed to Masara to help the search and retrieval operation.</p><p>While rescuers were using heavy earth-moving equipment in places, they had to rely on their bare hands and shovels in areas where they believed there were bodies, Macapili said.</p><p>&quot;The soil that covered the buses was very thick -- it could almost cover a two-story building,&quot; he said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/8/10-killed-dozens-still-missing-in-davao-de-oro-landslide-1559">10 killed, dozens still missing in Davao De Oro landslide</a></div><div><strong>- Landslides are frequent hazards -</strong></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2953583"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p>At least 20 mine workers are believed to be entombed in the vehicles.</p><p>Landslides are frequent hazards across much of the archipelago nation due to the mountainous terrain, heavy rainfall, and widespread deforestation from mining, slash-and-burn farming and illegal logging.</p><p>The area hit by Tuesday&#x27;s landslide was about four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the gold mine operated by a local company Apex Mining, and had been declared a &quot;no habitation&quot; zone, Maco Mayor Arthur Carlos Rimando said.</p><p>&quot;Since 2007 the area was prone to landslides... but the livelihoods of the people are there,&quot; Rimando told AFP.</p><p>Rain has pounded parts of Mindanao on and off for weeks, triggering dozens of landslides and flooding that have forced tens of thousands of people into emergency shelters.</p><p>Massive earthquakes have also destabilized the region in recent months, Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum said Wednesday.</p><p>Hundreds of families from Masara and four nearby villages have had to evacuate from their homes and shelter in emergency centers for fear of further landslides.</p><p>Schools across the municipality have suspended classes.</p><p>The state weather forecaster has also warned that flash floods and landslides caused by moderate to heavy rain could strike the province in the coming days.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m worried that there will be more heavy rains,&quot; Macapili said.</p><p>&quot;Of course that will affect the operations.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2953527"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script>

<p>Rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to dig through mud on Thursday in a desperate search for survivors of a landslide that has killed 11 people.</p>

Rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to dig through mud on Thursday in a desperate search for survivors of a landslide that has killed 11 people.

Rescuers use bare hands to search for Davao De Oro landslide survivors

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Rescuers use bare hands to search for Davao De Oro landslide survivors

Pam CASTRO,

Agence France-Presse

Published February 08, 2024 10:39 PM PHT

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