DAVAO CITY — Seve (7) bodies have been recovered, 31 injured and 46 still missing when tons of mud covered the bus terminal in a landslide at Zone 1B, Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro on Tuesday night.
In a statement, released at about 4:30 Wednesday afternoon, Maco Municipal Risk Reduction and Management Office reported “Based on the initial report (for validation), we have recorded that seven (7) bodies have been recovered from the landslide and thirty one (31) injured have been rescued. Currently, there are forty-eight (48) reported missing individuals.”
The statement added that the search and rescue has been suspended because of the weather condition.
The incident happened some 500 meters away from the mining site owned by Apex Mining Corporation and most of the survivors are employees of the company who were onboard the buses on their way home after their shift.
The affected area was near Apex Mining Corporation where employees were working in three shifts for its 24-hour operation.
Davao de Oro Governor Dorothy Gonzaga in an interview with reporters at around 4:00 in the afternoon on Wednesday said, They were forced to stop the retrieval operations as the rescue team felt “The soil still moves and we will continue as soon a the ground assessment will tell us that the ground is safe.”
The incident happened at the center of the center of the barangay and even the barangay hall was covered with mud slides, Gonzaga added.
As of press time, some 300 families composed of 3,000 individuals are temporarily housed in the government identified evacuation center.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provided relief good to the affected families.
The Philippine National Police Regional Office, according to BGen. Alden Delvo deployed 100 personnel to help in the search and rescue operations.
Rescue personnel from the mining corporation, according to Gonzaga, were the first responders and the company is closely coordinating with the provincial government in the search and retrieval operations.
