A mountain slope collapsed in the province of Benguet sparking the landslide trapping 40 people who are believed to be local gold miners, and seven bodies have been dug out by rescuers.
Police Superintendent Pelita Tacio on Friday told The Associated Press that a part of a mountain slope collapsed on the miners’ bunkhouses in a far-flung village of Itogon town in the Benguet province as Typhoon Mangkhut’s ferocious winds and rain pounded the gold-mining region on Saturday.
Tacio, who was at the scene of the landslide earlier Sunday, says rescuers found another man but could not immediately pluck his body, which was pinned by rocks and mud.
It is the latest incident caused by the typhoon which has already killed at least 29 people in the Philippines with its winds of 130mph. Philippine police say the death toll from Typhoon Mangkhut has climbed to 64.
A view of the landslide caused at the height of Typhoon Mangkhut that buried people at a mining camp in Itogon, Benguet in the Philippines, September 16, 2018. REUTERS/Harley Palangchao
The national police also say 45 other people are missing and 33 were injured in the massive storm, which battered the northern Philippines on Saturday.
President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to visit the affected areas on Sunday and inspect the damage.
Senior Superintendent Lyndon Mencio, the region’s chief of police, said: “There seem to be no signs of life.”
More than 250,000 people have been affected by storms in the Philippines and around half of those have been trying to find shelter in evacuation centres in the north of the country.
In Hong Kong, weather authorities issued their maximum alert for the storm as skyscrapers swayed in the wind.
The city has reported more than 100 people have been injured due to the mega-storm.
China has called the typhoon the “king of storms” due to its power.
Sources: huffingtonpost.com, express.co.uk