Mudslides in Philippines buries dozens of shanty towns

Mudslides tumbled down a rain-soaked mountain in the southern Philippines on Monday, burying dozens of shanty towns in a gold mining village and killing at least 26 people.

A police and army rescue team yesterday (Tuesday) headed to the remote village of Napnapan to search for at least six people who were still missing a day after the landslides hit. One mudslide slammed into about 30 shantytowns, and another swept away a house. About 19 people, most of them miners, were hurt. Three were airlifted in an air force helicopter. The village is about 64 miles from the nearest main town and the rescuers had to bring in heavy equipment to clear the only access road.

The landslide-prone area was saturated after days of rain and residents had ignored warnings to leave, Arthur Uy, the Governor of Compostela Valley province, told Associated Press news agency. “We have been asking them to leave, and we are planning to cordon the area,” he said. “We are happy to have this gold mining area here. But the dark side are the deaths that occur in these natural calamities.” About 40,000 residents, mostly miners and their families, live in the area around Mount Diwata – about 580 miles southeast of the capital, Manila. Forecasters said that extra rain over the southern Philippines could lead to more flooding and landslides.

Several days of rains caused the heavily mined slopes to collapse and bury dozens of makeshift houses at the foot of the mountain. About 200 people live in the shantytown. Last month, the local government ordered the suspension of small-scale mining operations in the area because of bad weather, but some miners ignored the order and continued working despite the dangers of loosened soil. Landslides and flash floods are common in the disaster-prone Philippines during the monsoon months between May and October, particularly near mining, low-lying and coastal areas.

In December 2006, at least 198 people were killed after mud slides caused by Typhoon Durian swamped villages at the foot of the Mayon volcano in the eastern Philippines. Rivers of mud, volcanic ash and boulders, some as big as cars, crashed down on villages surrounding the live volcano after flash flooding caused by heavy rains. Officials reported that 260 people were missing and another 130 injured during the super-typhoon that battered the Albay province with winds gusting up to 165 mph.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children