One dead, dozens trapped after giant landfill collapses in Cebu
A mountain of garbage collapsed at a garbage dump in the central Philippines on Thursday, killing a 22-year-old woman. leave more than 30 Officials said people were missing.
Rescuers pulled 12 injured sanitation workers from the rubble at Binaliw Landfill in Cebu City and they were later hospitalized.
It is thought that most of the casualties were workers working at the dump. The mayor of Cebu told news outlet ABS-CBN that reaching survivors could be difficult due to the potential for further collapses.
The cause of the collapse is not yet clear, but Cebu City councilman Joel Garganera said it was likely a result of poor waste management practices.
Approximately 300 people from various government agencies and civic groups were relocated to the privately owned landfill. Many excavators, ambulances and fire trucks were also seen in the area.
“All response teams are fully participating in search and rescue efforts to locate the remaining missing persons,” Cebu Mayor Nestor Archival said in a Facebook post on Friday. he said.
“This is not like other landslides where you can just dig. If you pull from the top, the bottom part is soft. Let’s say there is a person there, when you pick up the debris, it can get worse,” he said, according to ABS-CBN.
Cebu City councilor Joel Garganera said the incident may have happened suddenly, but was likely a result of poor waste management practices.
Speaking to local newspaper The Freeman, Garganera said operators cut down the mountain, dug up the soil and then piled up garbage to create another mountain of waste.
“This is not a sanitary landfill. It is already an open dump,” he said.
Families are waiting for developments regarding their relatives trapped under the rubble.
Belen Antigua, a resident of Binaliw, told Rappler that her son survived the landslide, but she is still waiting for other relatives to be found. Another said families had been gathering at the dump since Friday morning looking for their children.
“I can’t understand my feelings. They said the trapped people were looking for help, so there’s a possibility my brother is still there,” Michelle Lumapas, whose brother works at the dump, told ABS-CBN.
Binaliw landfill area is approximately 15 hectares (37 acres).
Landfills are common in major Philippine cities such as Cebu, the commercial hub and transportation gateway of the Visayas, the central islands of the archipelago country.
