Landslide kills 6 in Mindanao (8:42 a.m.)
MANILA - At least six people have been killed and more than seven are missing after a landslide hit a cluster of hillside homes in Mindanao, a local official said.
Jovencio Angera, head of a village council in Maco township in southern Compostela Valley province, said the landslide Saturday buried more than 10 houses.
The mudslide, which followed three days of continuous rains, also hit a motorcycle taxi terminal and a party of people playing cards in the village of Masara.
Angera said he knew of at least seven people who were still missing. Other villagers told reporters there could be more than 50 people buried under mud and boulders.
Roger Corales, who escaped unharmed, said he saw people crying for help as they slowly disappeared under the earth, their hands trying desperately to grasp something to hold on to.
Among those confirmed dead were a mother and her two children. Their bodies were wrapped in blankets and candles were lit near their heads as they lay on the floor of a village chapel.
Another landslide killed 10 people in the same village a year ago.
Following last year’s incident, the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences recommended that the area be vacated because it was prone to landslides, but the people refused to be relocated, Provincial Gov. Arturo Uy said.
“It’s very unfortunate,” he said. (AP)
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