98 dead, 9 missing in Davao de Oro landslide

MANILA, Philippines — Casualties from the landslide in Maco, Davao de Oro continue to rise as government officials abandoned all hope of finding live victims under the rubble.

An update from the local government of Maco on Saturday estimated almost a hundred people dead after the incident buried multiple workers from a nearby mining facility.

"As of 12 noon today, we have a total of 98 retrieved bodies which includes complete body parts and body parts," said Management of the Dead and the Missing (MDM) unit member Lea Añora in a press briefing this afternoon.

"88 were complete body parts and 10 body parts... And we have 79 identified bodies and we still have 18 unidentified retrieved bodies."

Nine residents continue to be missing. According to Añora, they're still verifying the identity of one of the missing as of press time.

Among those who are still missing are from:

The landslide occured in Brgy. Masara on February 6 of after rains battered the Davao Region with rains due to the effects of the northeast monsoon and through of low pressure area (LPA).

Activist labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) seretary general Jerome Adonis earlier called for an investigation into the landslide incident, with the intention of finding out the extent of Apex Mining Corp.'s liability on the deaths.

It could be remembered that a 2-month-old infant and a 3-year-old child were among those who were successfully rescued from the incident nearly 60 hours after the incident.

Humans weren't the only ones affected by the tragedy but also animals, with dogs and chickens included in the long list of those that were rescued.

Through the cooperation of the Department of Social Welfiare and Development (DSWD) and provincial government, thousands of familities continued to receive relief goods on Thursday.

"More than 2,300 families in Barangay Binuangan, Maco and 1,500 in Barangay Kapatagan, Laak were helped by the aid distributed by the personnel of PAO-CADD, PSWDO, PGSO, and the police force," said the provincial government in a separate release.

Residents from nearby Brgy. Siocon in Compostela and Dumlan in Maco also recieved aid in the form of relief goods.