MANILA, Philippines – A predawn landslide in a mining site in Compostela Valley today killed at least 25 people while 15 others remained missing, the Philippine Star reported police as saying.
In an interview, Davao Region police chief Jaime Morente said rescuers recovered 25 dead bodies from the gold-rich village Panganason, a hinterland barangay in Pantukan town.
Morente said search team, including local miners, launched intensive efforts to rescue possible survivors. But he pointed out that rescuers have hard time in reaching the area due to its unfriendly terrain.
Heavy downpour brought about by the hovering Low Pressure Area (LPA) in Mindanao may have caused the mining site to collapse, burying dozens of shanties above it.
In a report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said the incident happened in Diat 1 to 700 Panning area around 3am.
NDRRM executive director Benito Ramos has said the area has already been declared as a geo-hazard site last October.
The incident was the second landslide to hit the area in less than a year.
In April 2010, at least 20 people died when parts of a mountain collapsed, burying houses above it.