At least four people have died and 34 others remain missing this Saturday in the Philippines following a landslide on Thursday at a landfill in the city of Cebú, where rescue teams have treated a dozen injured and are searching for survivors among the rubble. Cebú Mayor Néstor Archival stated on Saturday that the search continues, as the number of bodies found at the Binaliw landfill in the central Philippines region rose from one to four. Persistent rains had been recorded in the hours leading up to the incident. «Authorities have confirmed signs of life in specific areas, which required careful and continuous excavation, as well as the deployment of a more advanced 50-ton crane, which is on its way with a police escort,» the statement reads. Rescue workers, who have not found any survivors in the last 24 hours, face risks such as «unstable debris and acetylene hazards, forcing a security perimeter adjustment» at the site, which is estimated to receive about a thousand tons of waste daily. The Cebú Community Action Program (CAPC) reported on Friday in another bulletin, shared on Facebook, that seven of the injured were admitted to health centers. When the landslide occurred, «several waste management employees» were trapped, prompting authorities to deploy over 300 officials to handle the emergency, the note added. Minor landslides were recorded in 2023 at the privately managed Binaliw landfill, without any fatalities. The island of Cebú, home to 5.4 million people, was shaken last November by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left over 110 dead, and by an earthquake in October that claimed at least 72 lives.
