Landslide leaves 17 dead or missing in Philippines

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-07 14:27

MANILA, Philippines -- A landslide set off by heavy rains buried several huts in a remote gold-mining village in the southern Philippines, leaving at least eight people dead and nine others missing, police said Sunday.

About 18 huts at the foothills of Masara village in Maco township were destroyed Saturday by the tons of mud and rocks, injuring 17 villagers and forcing 70 families to seek shelter in a school building for safety, regional police chief Andres Caro said.

Another landslide hit the village early Sunday but there was no immediate reports of new casualties or damage, Caro said.

Army and police, backed by two air force helicopters and workers from a gold-mining company battled heavy rains and mud to retrieve at least nine villagers who were reported to have been buried Saturday under mud and rocks, Caro said.

Cell phone connections were lost in the disaster in Compostela Valley province, about 520 miles (840 kilometers) southeast of Manila, further hampering rescue efforts, Caro said.

Roger Corales, who escaped unharmed, said Saturday he saw people crying for help as they slowly disappeared under the earth, their hands trying desperately to grasp something to hold on to.

Among those confirmed dead were a mother and her two children. Their bodies were wrapped in blankets and candles were lit near their heads as they lay on the floor of a village chapel.

Another landslide killed 10 people in the same village a year ago, prompting the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences to recommend that the landslide-prone area be abandoned.

But many villagers, who depend on the local gold-mining industry for a living, refused to leave, Caro said.