CEBU CITY – Four bodies were retrieved after a landslide hit Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tinaan, Naga City, Cebu at past 6 a.m. on Thursday. In a dyAb interview, rescuers identified the fatalities as Beatriz Hope Echavez, 4; Olivia Maratas, 63; and a certain Rosa Ann Lubiano, who was believed to be around 40 years old. ADVERTISEMENT Chief Insp. Roderick Ylan Gonzalez of Naga police station said part of the mountain of Sitio Sindulan eroded due to the continuous downpour. Gonzales said at least 24 houses were destroyed by the landslide. The Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) team of Naga City is conducting a search-and-rescue operation for residents trapped inside their homes. Personnel from the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) are also responding in the area. Authorities also disclosed that some residents trapped in the buried houses were still shouting for help while others were sending text messages asking to be rescued. Residents whose houses were spared from the landslide also volunteered to help in the rescue. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and some private construction companies have started sending personnel to help in the search-and-rescue operations. Mandaue City Mayor Luigi R. Quisumbing has also sent a team of emergency responders to the affected area to assist in the rescue efforts. PAUL LAURO, ROSALIE ABATAYO, FUTCH Paul ANTHONY INSO, DORIS MONDRAGON Read Next<doc-sep>NAGA CITY, Cebu – Three more bodies were dug out early Friday morning from the landslide-stricken community in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City, about 21.7 km south of Cebu City, bringing the death toll to 21. Senior Supt. Samuel Tadeo, head of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Central Visayas and ground commander of the search-and-rescue operations, said they continued to look for the bodies buried under the debris of rocks and soil following the massive landslide that hit the village on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT At least 10 of the fatalities lie at the Naga City badminton covered court. City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong assured the affected families of the government’s full support. “This is a tragic event but it is the best time to unite,” Chiong told the Inquirer. She said the city government would shoulder the funeral and burial expenses of the fatalities, among other financial assistance. “We will apply the fullest and maximum resources we have to help the victims,” Chiong said. “Please include us in your prayers,” she added. Read Next<doc-sep>Residents dig amongst boulders as they search for survivors after a landslide triggered by monsoon rains hit a village in Naga City, Cebu province in central Philippines on September 20, 2108. (CNN) — Rescuers were still searching Friday for at least 50 people feared buried under debris up to 15 meters deep following a landslide in the Philippines Thursday. The landslide followed several days of heavy rain in Naga city, Cebu province, a popular island destination, though the incident occurred away from the tourist beaches, some 21 kilometers south of Cebu City. By Friday afternoon, 25 bodies had been pulled from the rubble, which is thought to have covered up to 60 homes, across an area the size of about 10 football pitches, CNN Philippines reported. ALAN TANGCAWAN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images Rescuers carry a resident brought out from the landslide site. On Thursday, rescuers said families had received text messages from loves ones feared buried in the mud, raising hopes that they were sheltering in air pockets in the debris. By Friday, there was no sign of life. “The whole area is isolated. And we don’t find any movements, not even the waving of hands (from the victims),” said Baltazar Tribunalo, head of the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in a news conference Friday. The city didn’t take a direct hit from Super Typhoon Mangkhut that made landfall in the country last weekend, but the storm system – the world’s biggest this year – dumped heavy rain on the area. Connie Fernandez, a journalist with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, told CNN residents had complained about cracks along the mountain slope three weeks ago, but were assured that the village was safe. On the top of the mountain is a quarry site used by a cement company, she said. The night before the landslide, heavy rain prompted local officials to evacuate the residents of Barangay Tinaan, but not everybody left. Fernandez said moments before the landslide residents felt a slight tremor and heard what sounded like thunder before mounds of soil and rock cascaded down the mountain on homes below. Local media SunStar Cebu posted images on its social media account Thursday showing rescuers pulling people from the rubble on stretchers. LOOK: A woman was rescued from the landslide in Naga City. | via Arni Aclao pic.twitter.com/Vpj96kGs4t — SunStar Cebu (@sunstarcebu) September 20, 2018 Philippines Red Cross CEO Richard Gordon posted on Twitter that the organization had responded to the deadly collapse in the early hours of Thursday. At around 6am today, our Cebu-Mandaue team responded to a landslide incident at Sitio Sindulan, Brgy. Tinaan in Naga, Cebu. Our responders assisted one patient who had serious injuries and also provided psychosocial support to other victims. pic.twitter.com/7KM5j8zGAX — Richard J. Gordon (@DickGordonDG) September 20, 2018 Details of all the dead have not emerged but they include a four-year-old child and an elderly woman, bureau of fire protection rescue chief Samuel Tadeo said. Another deadly landslide The incident comes just days after another deadly landslide in the mining town of Itogon, in the Cordillera region in the north of Luzon, killed at least 27 people. The rockfall destroyed hundreds of homes and buried dozens of people, mostly miners who worked in small-scale mines and their families. That landslide, on Saturday, was triggered by heavy rains brought by Typhoon Mangkhut – known locally as Ompong. Mangkhut, the strongest storm of 2018, left 63 people dead, 42 injured and dozens missing as it cut a destructive streak across Luzon, the most populous island in the Philippines. While emergency signals were raised ahead of the storm’s approach, locals said they were shocked by the degree of the devastation. “This is the first time I’ve seen this kind of landslide. It’s massive and almost everyone is affected. Even the miners are helping the rescuers, the police – everyone is giving their best,” one rescuer said.<doc-sep>
Naga City in Cebu province was hit by landslides early Thursday morning and at least 30 houses were buried. PHOTO FROM CEBU PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT INFORMATION OFFICE A landslide struck early Thursday morning in Barangay Naalad and Sitio Sindulan in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City in Cebu province, burying some 30 houses in the area, and killing at least four people, local authorities said. Marian Z. Codilla of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Region 7 told GMA News Online that the landslide occurred around 6 a.m. on Thursday. She said that two geologists from the MGB regional office are on their way to the site. GMA News TV's News To Go reported that Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) Officer Baltazar Tribunalo confirmed that the death toll from the landslide rose to four before noon. Also, Chief Inspector Roderick Gonzales of the Naga police said four to five people were rescued from the landslide. Earlier, Gabriel Bonjoc of Super Radyo Cebu said on Dobol B sa News TV that 10 out of 15 houses affected in Naalad and Tinaan were buried in the landslide. However, Gonzales said in a later that 20 to 25 houses were affected in Tinaan and 10 houses in Naalad. Naga City is a known mining site for non-metallic minerals, including limestone. As of this posting, rescuers were still unable to determine the number of people were inside the houses at the time of the incident, possibly caused by the heavy overnight rains. Several people have been rescued and were immediately brought to the hospital. The land on which the homes were built is owned by a cement firm. Codilla clarified that the agency conducted an inspection earlier in a nearby area. The MGB-7 earlier conducted an inspection of Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Tinaan in Naga City, Cebu and found that the fissures at the site were not caused by mining activities. The cracks leading to the landslide were triggered by natural phenomenon, Codilla said. She said that MGB-7 already recommended close monitoring of the area and the evacuation of residents. Additional information would be available after the MGB geologists have reached the area for inspection. — with a report by Rie Takumi/LBG/RSJ, GMA News