'Miracle': Child rescued nearly 60 hours after southern Philippine landslide
Published on: Friday, February 09, 2024
By: AFP
A child was rescued today nearly 60 hours after a rain-induced landslide hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines, killing at least 11 people and leaving more than a hundred missing. — AFP pic/Office of the Provincial Fire Marshal (OPFM) Davao de Oro
MANILA: A child was rescued today nearly 60 hours after a rain-induced landslide hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines, killing at least 11 people and leaving more than a hundred missing.
The girl, whose age has not been disclosed, was found as rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to look for survivors in Masara village on southern Mindanao island, disaster agency official Edward Macapili of Davao de Oro province told AFP.
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“It’s a miracle,” Macapili said.
“That gives hope to the rescuers. A child’s resilience is usually less than that of adults, yet the child survived.”
The landslide struck Tuesday night, destroying houses and engulfing three buses and a jeepney waiting to pick up workers from a gold mine.
Searchers were in a race against time and weather to find anyone else alive in the thick mud as rain fell over the area today.
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Landslides are frequent hazards across much of the archipelago nation due to the mountainous terrain, heavy rainfall, and widespread deforestation from mining, slash-and-burn farming and illegal logging.
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