Miracle rescue: 2 kids survive 60 hours in rubble

MANILA, Philippines — A young girl and a baby boy miraculously survived the landslide that hit the gold-mining village of Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro three days after it occurred.

The rescue has been hailed as a “miracle” after searchers had given up hope of finding anyone alive nearly 60 hours after the tragedy.

The municipal government of Maco confirmed to The STAR that the three-year-old girl, dubbed “The Angel of Masara,” was rescued yesterday morning.

On the other hand, the two-month-old baby’s rescue was reported by the Philippine Red Cross Emergency Response Unit in the afternoon. He was suffering from severe diarrhea.

Both children were brought to the Doctors Community Hospital in Mawab for treatment.

According to accounts, the young girl was able to hold on to a woman before being swept away by the landslide, Office of Civil Defense-Davao Region chief Ednar Dayanghirang said.

The girl was said to have been buried in a spot with a hollow portion that allowed her to breathe. The girl was frail and severely dehydrated when the rescuers found her.

She was found as rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to look for survivors, disaster agency official Edward Macapili of Davao de Oro told AFP.

“That gives hope to the rescuers,” he said.

Video of a rescuer carrying the crying, mud-caked child in his arms was posted on Facebook.

“We can see in the social media posts that the child did not have any visible injuries,” Macapili said, adding that authorities have ordered not to release the names of the victims.

Maco municipality reported that the number of injured people is now at 32 while the casualty count has risen to 15, with 110 still missing.

Meanwhile, hundreds of families from Masara and four nearby villages had to be taken to safer ground and are still staying in various evacuation centers in the locality where their basic needs are being provided. Schools across the municipality have also suspended classes.

The Philippine Red Cross has earlier deployed two water tankers in Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte to help communities that lost access to clean and safe drinking water following heavy rains and floods.

Labor group Federation of Free Workers (FFW)