BAGUIO CITY: The number of fatalities in Sunday night’s landslide that buried three houses has risen to four, after first responders and volunteers worked round the clock to dig out survivors.
They have rescued three survivors, but six remain missing after the mudslide toppled over their homes in Riverside, Barangay Guisad Surong, at around 7 p.m.
Baguio City Police Director Col Ruel Tagel reported to Mayor Benjamin Magalong that 13 people were caught in the erosion.
As of 5:35 a.m. on Monday, seven of the 13 victims have been extracted from the debris.
The fatalities are a 17-year-old female student, two nine-year-old children — a boy and a girl — and a 56-year-old man.
Those rescued were a 27-year-old man, a 27-year-old woman and a 77-year-old pastor who are undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Six people remain unaccounted for, including children aged three and eight, as search, rescue and retrieval operations continue at the site.
Responders are working amid intermittent rain, while authorities are considering using heavy equipment to speed up the clearing and retrieval operation.
Meanwhile, 14 families, or 62 people, have evacuated in Guisad Surong and are staying at the Baguio International Academy. Seven more evacuees are taking shelter at the Guisad Surong Barangay Hall.
The evacuees include children aged three to seven.
The city government is appealing for donations of food, blankets, clothing and toiletries for the displaced families, who remain in evacuation centres as the search operation continues.
Individuals and organisations willing to help may bring donations directly to the Baguio International Academy or the Guisad Surong Barangay Hall.
The landslide struck as Baguio and other parts of the Cordillera continued to experience rain, raising concerns over further slope failures in vulnerable areas. - Inquirer/ANN
