Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The death toll from a landslide in Davao de Oro province climbed to 10, a disaster official said Friday, as the search for one missing person continued.
Fourteen people were gathered in a house for a prayer meeting in the mountainous gold mining region when the landslide hit Thursday following days of heavy rain.
Rescuers have recovered three more bodies yesterday.
The fatalities include five children from the same family, Monkayo municipal disaster officer Rocris Idul told Agence France-Presse.
One man, a woman, and a one-year-old baby girl were pulled alive from the mud.
The adults suffered minor injuries, but the child was severely hurt,official data showed.
One person is still missing.
“We’re hoping to find the last body as soon as we can,” Idul said butadded that search operations were being hampered by more landslides in the area on Friday.
“A significant mass of land was eroded in the area this morning, so we had to stop for around 15 to 30 minutes,” Idul said.
“We cannot risk the lives of our responders.”
Schools in the municipality were ordered to suspend classes on Friday, with more heavy rain expected in the region.
As this developed, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said all previously diverted flights due to the bad weather caused by the shear line have returned to the Davao International Airport (DIA) yesterday.
DIA Area Center 11 Manager Rex Obcena said the airport’s flood drain systems are being monitored to ensure no clogs to prevent airside flooding.
“All previously diverted flights have successfully returned to DIA today, seamlessly restoring normal operations,” said CAAP information officer Karen Villanda. — Joel E. Zurbano
*****
Credit belongs to: www.manilastandard.net
