Death toll in Philippine landslide rises to 28
Baku, January 9 (AZERTAC). The number of dead from a landslide in a remote gold-mining community in the southern Philippines hit 28 today but rescuers said they expected the toll to rise with about 35 people unaccounted for.
Heavy equipment has arrived at the scene but there was continued confusion over exactly how many people might have been buried alive in Pantukan town before dawn. Relatives at the rescue centre were looking for an estimated 35 people who could not be accounted for but it could not be determined if these people were actually buried in the landslide, said regional civil defence chief Liza Mazo.
“We think this (death toll) will go higher because the bulldozers are there now,” said national civil defence head Benito Ramos, as searchers continued to dig through the mountain in the island of Mindanao.
The death toll previously stood at 25.
Ramos said heavy rains that had hampered the search had stopped, insisting that he was not giving up hope of finding some people alive.Pantukan Mayor Celso Sarrenas said there was no way of knowing how many bodies might still be found after heavy rains caused a landslide that buried small mining tunnels and shanties built in the gold-rush area.
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