As many as 60 villagers in one hard-hit Philippine province are feared missing and buried in a huge mudslide laden with rocks, trees and debris, local officials said.
In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, rescuers evacuate residents from flood waters caused by Tropical Storm Nalgae in Hilongos, Leyte province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 28, 2022. Flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains left dozens of people dead, including in a hard-hit southern Philippine province, where many villagers are feared missing and buried in a deluge of rainwater, mud, rocks and trees, officials said Saturday.
But the worst storm impact so far was a mudslide that buried dozens of houses with as many as 60 people in the tribal village of Kusiong in Maguindanao’s Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Sinarimbo told The Associated Press by telephone, citing accounts from Kusiong villagers who survived the flash flood and mudslide.
“That community will be our ground zero today,” he said, adding that heavy equipment and more rescue workers had been deployed to intensify the search and rescue work. Citing reports from mayors, governors and disaster-response officials, Sinarimbo said 27 died mostly by drowning and landslides in Datu Odin Sinsuat town, 10 in Datu Blah Sinsuat town and five in Upi town, all in Maguindanao.
The coast guard issued pictures of its rescuers wading in chest-high, brownish floodwaters to rescue the elderly and children in Maguindanao. Many of the swamped areas had not been flooded for years, including Cotabato city where Sinarimbo said his house was inundated.