<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-02-13/Philippine-landslide-death-toll-rises-to-71-search-for-47-continues-1rajGIXlpNS/img/cca15016a0b943928b3316997463aad7/cca15016a0b943928b3316997463aad7.jpeg' alt='Office of the Provincial Fire Marshal workers conduct rescue operations at the site of a landslide in Maco, Davao de Oro province in the southern Philippines, February 7, 2024. /CFP'
The death toll from the February 6 landslide that hit a mining town in Davao de Oro province in the southern Philippines has risen to 71, a government official said Tuesday.
Leah Anora of the Department of the Interior and Local Government told media at a press conference at Maco, the municipality where the tragedy occurred, that rescuers are still looking for 47 missing people.
Thirty-two people were injured but survived the tragedy, she said.
The dead include workers of a mining company trapped inside two buses buried by rocks, mud and trees that rampaged from the mountainside. The buses were ferrying workers to and from the mining site.
Soldiers and volunteers are continuing the search and retrieval operations. Edward Macapili, an official from Davao de Oro province, said Monday that the retrieval continued despite some “challenges” on the ground, including earthquakes.
The World Risk Index 2022 put the Philippines at the number one spot for the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the archipelago is frequently battered by powerful typhoons, triggering flash floods and landslides, and rocked by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
