Philippine landslides: Death toll rises to 80, dozens still missing

SWEPT AWAY | Rescue workers carry the bodies of victims of a landslide that slammed into the village of Bunga in Baybay town, Leyte province, Philippines, April 13, 2022, days after heavy rains from topical storm Megi (Agaton) inundated the town.

DEATH TOLL | Heavy rains caused by a summer tropical depression killed up to 80 people, while dozens of others remain missing after landslides hit the Philippines’ Leyte province, local authorities said on Wednesday. More than 100 people were injured, rescuers said. Tropical storm Megi (locally known as “Agaton”) also flooded 156 villages in 17 Capiz towns, according to the Philippine News Agency. Members of the Philippine National Police help identify landslide victims in Leyte province.

BURIED IN MUD, BUT ALIVE | A landslide victim was found alive by rescuers. Officials said they are still looking for missing people. Forty-seven of the dead were recovered from the landslides that hit six villages in Baybay, a town in eastern Philippines, military and local officials said. In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a man is carried after being rescued from a landslide in Baybay. PCG via AP

BODY COUNT | Images on social media showed bodies, including those of children, being pulled from under thick mud during rescue operations. At least nine other people drowned in floodwaters in four central and southern provinces, rescuers said. “We are saddened by this dreadful incident that caused an unfortunate loss of lives and destruction of properties,” said Army brigade commander Col. Noel Vestuir, who was helping oversee the search and rescue.

SAFER GROUND | More than 42,000 people fled their homes as the storm hammered the region in recent days, flooding houses, severing roads and knocking out power. A total of 580,876 individuals have been affected, while 341 houses and 1,851.5 hectares of crops have been damaged, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

HAMPERED | Rescuers hampered by mud and rain have used their bare hands and shovels to search for survivors of landslides that smashed into villages in the central Philippines, as the death toll from tropical storm Megi rose to nearly 60. Photo shows residents evacuated by rescuers in a flooded village in Panitan, Panay island, Philippines. Philippine Coast Guard via AP

RESCUE | More rescuers and heavy equipment, including backhoes, arrived in the landslide-hit villages in Baybay. Its mayor, Jose Carlos Cari, said the weather cleared Wednesday, allowing the search and rescue work to go full force. Rescuers help evacuate residents in low-lying areas hit by heavy rains brought by Meiji, known in the Philippines as “Agaton”, the first major tropical storm to hit the country this year.

SUMMER STORM | The summertime tropical storm, unusual at this time of the year, unleashed days of pounding rain. Dramatic pictures have emerged in the aftermath of back-to-back tropical storms that triggered floods and landslides in central and south-eastern Philippines, officials said Wednesday. Coast guard personnel evacuating local residents from their flooded homes in the town of Panitan, Capiz province, on April 12, 2022.

DISASTER-PRONE | At least 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines each year, mostly during the rainy season that begins around June. Some storms have hit even during the scorching summer months in recent years. The disaster-prone Southeast Asian nation also lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. Emergency personnel evacuating a resident from a flooded area in Abuyog town, Leyte province, southern Philippines, following heavy rains brought about by Tropical storm Agaton.