Deadly Philippines landslide leaves 10 dead, three survivors rescued
Key Takeaways
- A landslide buried three homes in Baguio City.
- Ten people died and three survived after rescue operations ended.
- More than one million people have been affected by severe weather across northern Luzon.
Rescuers recovered all 13 people trapped beneath a rain-triggered landslide after days of searching through mud and debris in Baguio City.
Rescuers searched through the wreckage of homes buried by a rain-triggered landslide in Baguio City, northern Philippines, on Monday, before recovering all 13 people trapped beneath the debris.
The rescue team dug through thick mud, while drilling into collapsed structures and cutting through twisted metal as rain continued to fall. A dog was also rescued alive from the rubble and cared for at the scene while crews recovered victims' bodies.
"It eroded from above. As you can see, that's about a 20-storey mountain slope that collapsed. And there are three homes here that were totally displaced," Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said while inspecting the operation.
He said about 150 rescuers worked in shifts to locate the trapped residents.
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"We won't leave them—I gave a commitment to the relatives," Magalong said. "We have a total of 13 affected individuals here. Only two of them survived. Yesterday there were three, but one passed away as well. So, eight have been declared dead. We are still searching for three more right now."
The retrieval operation ended early on Tuesday after all 13 people were accounted for. Authorities confirmed that 10 people had died, while three survivors were taken to hospital.
The landslide struck three homes in Baguio City's Guisad Surong area on Sunday after several days of heavy monsoon rain.
The southwest monsoon, locally known as habagat, was intensified by Tropical Cyclone Dolphin, bringing heavy rainfall across large parts of Luzon and triggering floods and landslides.
According to the Office of Civil Defence, the Baguio landslide raised the death toll from nearly a week of severe weather in northern Luzon to 19.
More than one million people have been affected by the heavy rains and flooding, with around 98,000 forced to leave their homes.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
