Cebu City landfill landslide death toll now 19; 17 still missing

The number of fatalities in the deadly landslide at a landfill in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City has climbed to 19, the authorities said Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking to Super Radyo dzBB, Senior Fire Officer III Wendell Villanueva, Cebu City Fire Station spokesperson, said six additional bodies have been found this afternoon.

“As of 3:46 pm, mayroon na tayong anim na additional na bangkay na nahukay. All in all, we have 19 [fatalities] at 17 na lang ang missing,” Villanueva said Wednesday.

(As of 3:46 p.m., we have found six bodies. All in all, we have 19 fatalities and 17 persons remain missing.)

“We are still in the search and rescue operation phase. Hindi pa tayo nag-shift sa (We’re still not shifting to) search and retrieval,” he added.

Villanueva also said rescuers still detect signs of life, but were unsure if it is a person or an animal.

“We are hoping na sa mga missing individual pa 'yung heartbeat na na-monitor natin (we’re hoping that the heartbeat we monitored is from the missing individuals),” Villanueva said.

He added that rescuers are focusing on four areas, but they have to pause the search and rescue operations whenever there is rain for safety reasons.

The operator of the sanitary landfill earlier said that it will comply with a cease and desist order issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). 

DENR Central Visayas had said the cease and desist order would halt landfill operations except for rescue, retrieval, and cleanup activities. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News