Davao de Oro landslide death toll now at 35

The number of fatalities from the Maco, Davao de Oro landslide rose to 35, the Davao de Oro provincial government told Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday evening.

According to Edward Macapili, the provincial government's Executive Assistant for Communications and Public Information, the landslide had piled between 50 to 30 meters of earth on "ground zero."

Rescuers recovered a fatality after digging down some 40 to 20 meters.

Macapili added that 77 people were still missing.

The search and rescue operation was halted at 5 p.m. on Saturday. It would resume on Sunday.

Meanwhile, GMA Regional TV One Mindanao's Rgil Relator reported on “24 Oras Weekend" that another body was recovered at the landslide's "ground zero" at 10 a.m.

The body was brought to the incident command post and would undergo a postmortem examination.

Search and rescue operations were disrupted after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. 

Search and rescue continued on Saturday after a three-year-old girl was rescued on Friday. 

Earlier, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) expressed hope to find more survivors as more personnel took part in the search.

"Yesterday, we were still able to respond and rescue yung bata dun sa rubble. So, we are still hoping a lot of people are still alive," said PDRRMO head Joseph Randy Loy.

Loy said the chances of finding more survivors will depend on the kind of situation they are currently in.

"Chances of survival we cannot really guarantee. There are these so-called "pockets" within these rubbles that will allow them to breathe," he said. 

"As to the extent of how long this oxygen will be able to supply them, depende kasi sa sitwasyon na andun na nasa ilalim."

The landslide happened on Tuesday night outside a gold mining site, burying homes, including two buses and a jeep that were supposed to ferry employees of the mining company. —Sherylin Untalan/ VAL, GMA Integrated News