MANILA, Philippines, 7th February, 2024 (WAM) -- A search was underway Wednesday for 27 miners missing after a landslide struck buses and houses in a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines, Associated Press (AP) said.
It’s not clear how many people may have been trapped in their homes when part of a mountainside cascaded down Masara village Tuesday night in the far-flung town of Maco in Davao de Oro province, provincial government spokesman Edward Macapili said, but 11 residents were injured.
Eight miners who were among those waiting on two parked buses that would have taken them home from work Tuesday night jumped out of the bus windows or dashed away and survived when the landslide struck. A third bus had already left, Macapili said.
The military earlier reported a higher number of missing and surviving miners, saying impassable roads and poor communication lines were hampering efforts to get more specific details from the village.
About 600 villagers living near the landslide-hit area have been evacuated to safer communities.