An avalanche of garbage and debris buried or trapped workers at a landfill in the Philippines on Thursday, killing two people, injuring a dozen and leaving 36 others missing, officials said Friday.
Officials said 13 people were rescued alive overnight. Authorities said one of the rescued later died, and a second body was discovered later.
Rescue teams were searching for about three dozen people still trapped after the mountain of garbage, earth and debris collapsed Thursday afternoon in the village of Binaliw in Cebu city, officials and police said. Officials said all of the dead and missing were workers in the landfill and waste management facility.
Regional police director Brig. Gen. Roderick Maranan told The Associated Press that a female landfill worker died while being brought to a hospital. Maranan said the rest survived with injuries and were hospitalized.
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival said in a statement that the body of a 25-year-old engineer who worked at the facility was recovered Friday afternoon.
Jaylord Antigua, a 31-year-old office worker in the landfill, said the collapse happened rapidly without warning and in good weather. He said he managed to extricate himself from the destroyed office by crawling under rubble and debris.
“I saw a light and crawled toward it in a hurry, because I feared there will be more landslides,” Antigua told the AP. “It was traumatic. I feared that it was my end, so this is my second life.”
Archival and the Office of Civil Defense said search and rescue efforts would proceed indefinitely at the facility, which has 110 employees. In a Facebook statement, Archival said, “All response teams remain fully engaged in search and retrieval efforts to locate the remaining missing persons with strict adherence to safety protocols.” He added, “The city government assures the public and the families of those affected that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure safety, transparency, accountability and compassionate assistance as operations continue,” as operations continue.
Pictures released by authorities showed rescuers using earthmoving equipment to scour a building devastated in the garbage avalanche, with twisted tin roofs and iron beams. Maranan said one of the buildings hit was a warehouse where workers separated recyclable waste and rubbish, and relatives waited as the search continued.
Landfills and open dumpsites have long been a source of safety and health concerns in many Philippine cities and towns, especially in areas close to poor communities where residents scavenge for junk and leftover food in garbage heaps.
In July 2000, the article said, a huge mound of garbage at a dumpsite in a shantytown in suburban Quezon City collapsed after days of stormy weather and the avalanche ignited a fire. The disaster left more than 200 people dead and many more missing, damaged scores of shanties and prompted the enactment of a law requiring the closure of illegal dumpsites and better waste management by authorities.