Manila: Nineteen people have died while 14 others remain missing as disaster management authorities continue rescue and retrieval operations in landslide-struck mountain areas in the northern Philippines.
In Benguet province, rescue workers race to find survivors after an avalanche of mud and debris buried several dwellings in the mining village of Taneg in Mankayan town.
According to a report issued by Alexander Pama, chair of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), 12 people remain unaccounted for and are believed to be buried in the rubble, two days after several landslides struck Taneg during the height of typhoon Goni (local name Ineng).
Two victims, Michael Felix, 58; and Glen Poloc, 27, died of suffocation after they were buried alive during a mine collapse in Benguet last Friday.
Reports said two other mine workers died of suffocation but this cannot be independently confirmed.
The NRDDMC said that of the 19 listed deaths, 12 were from Benguet, one each from Ilocos Norte, Abra and La Union province and two from the Mountain Province.
Twelve of the eight confirmed deaths in Benguet all died in landslides.
Although Goni did not directly hit Luzon, it affected a wide area. It exited the country on Sunday but it continued to bring rain until Monday because of the effects of the southwest monsoon.
In Metro Manila and Bulacan provinces, heavy intermittent rain continued to affect a wide area, resulting in flooding.
The NDRRMC said there were 46 flooding incidents in Northern and Central Luzon as well as Metro Manila over the past three days.
“A total of 72,236 people were evacuated in Ilocos, Cordillera, Calabarzon and Metro Manila,” Pama said.
The poor weather also disrupted several flight schedules to and from Manila.
A total of 50 roads were unpassable in the affected regions.
The effect of the severe weather also prompted Ilocos Norte to declare a state of calamity in the province.
A total of four cities and 81 municipalities are still experiencing power interruptions in the four affected regions.
Although Goni is already outside the Philippines’ Area of Responsibility, PAGASA warned residents of low-lying areas to remain on the alert for flooding.
