Death toll in Davao de Oro landslide climbs to 27 after burying mining workers

MANILA, Philippines — More casualties are being tallied by government officials following a deadly landslide that occurred in Maco, Davao de Oro that buried two buses carrying workers of Apex Mining Co. Inc.

The fatalities from the incident last Tuesday have since risen to 27, according to data shared to the media by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Saturday.

Among the 151 casualties include:

"A total of 1,315 families / 5,318 persons in 4 barangays in Maco, Davao de Oro were affected," said the NDRRMC in a statement.

"A total of 62 houses were totally damaged."

A two-month-old infant and and 3-year-old child were earlier rescued by officials from the Philippine Red Cross after being under the rubble of the landslide for over three days.

Progressive worker's group Kilusang Mayo Uno last Friday demanded for an independent investigation regarding the incident to figure out if the large scale mining operations and labor practices of Apex contributed to the immense number of deaths.

On Wednesday, Apex Mining Co. attributed the landslide to the heavy rains that poured on Brgy. Masara in Maco in the last two weeks.

It could be remembered that the northeast monsoon and trough of a low pressure area affected the Davao Region, Northern Mindanao, Caraga and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao — bringing floods and rain-induced landslides.

Collectively, over 1.22 million persons were affected by the weather disturbance, displacing around 359,014 Mindanaoans.

Over P583.4 million in damages were so far recorded by the council, with around P153.7 million in assistance provided for affected residents of Davao Region and Caraga.