Filipino rescuers detect ‘signs of life’ in garbage avalanche that killed 4 and left dozens missing
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers detect signs of life in one area garbage avalanche At least four workers died and more than 30 went missing at a landfill in the central Philippines on Thursday, an official said Saturday, and they plan to intensify search efforts.
Officials said 12 workers injured when a giant garbage pile collapsed among the low-rise buildings of a waste management facility in Cebu City’s Binaliw village were rescued.
Dozens of rescuers, including police, firefighters and disaster response personnel, raced against time to find more survivors in treacherous conditions among the rubble of twisted tin roofs, iron bars and piles of flammable garbage and debris.
“Authorities have confirmed the existence of signs of life detected in certain areas, which requires continued careful excavation and deployment of a more advanced 50-ton crane accompanied by police escort,” Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival said in a statement.
“The safety of response teams remains paramount due to hazards such as unstable debris and acetylene risks, leading to adjustments to the security perimeter and controlled access,” Archival said.
According to the mayor and police, all four people, including an engineer and a female office worker, were employees of the landfill and waste management facility, which has a staff of 110 people.
According to Archival, which did not provide an updated count of missing persons, Friday’s initial list of victims included two dead and 36 missing; that number increased to four deaths on Saturday.
The cause of the garbage mountain collapse remains unclear, but one survivor told The Associated Press on Friday that it happened instantly, without any warning, even though the weather was quite good at the time.
Jaylord Antigua, a 31-year-old office worker who works at the landfill, said the wall of garbage flowed down and destroyed the administrative office where he was located. He escaped by crawling through rubble and rubble in the dark, with bruises on his face and arms.
“I saw a light and hurriedly crawled towards it because I was afraid there would be more landslides,” Antigua said. “It was traumatic. I was afraid this would be the end of me, so this is my second life.”
It’s unclear how the accident will affect garbage disposal at the landfill in Cebu, a bustling port city of about one million people that serves as a regional hub for trade, commerce and tourism.
Archival said in a statement, without providing further details, that “preparations are also ongoing to manage the upcoming garbage collection problem.”
Such landfills and open dumps have long been a source of safety and health problems across the Philippines, especially in areas close to poor communities where many residents collect junk food and food scraps in garbage piles.
In July 2000, a large garbage pile in a slum in a suburb of Quezon City, part of metropolitan Manila, collapsed and caused a fire after days of stormy weather.
The disaster left more than 200 people dead and many more missing, damaged numerous slums, and led to a law requiring better and more sustainable waste management by authorities as well as the closure of illegal dumps across the country.
