Rescue workers are racing to find dozens of people still missing following a landslide at a landfill site in the central Philippines that occurred earlier this week, an official has said.
Mayor Nestor Archival stated that signs of life had been detected at the site in Cebu City, two days after the incident.
Currently, four individuals have been confirmed dead, while twelve others have been hospitalized.
Emergency services face challenging conditions at the site due to unstable debris, with crews waiting for better equipment to aid in their efforts.
The privately-owned Binaliw landfill collapsed on Thursday, trapping roughly 110 workers on site during the disaster.
Authorities confirmed the presence of detected signs of life in specific areas, leading to calls for careful excavation and the deployment of a more advanced 50-ton crane.
More than 30 workers, all associated with the landfill, are reported missing, prompting anxious relatives to await any updates on their loved ones' conditions.
Cebu City councillor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the city's disaster council, emphasized the urgency, stating, We are just hoping that we can get someone alive... We are racing against time, that's why our deployment is 24/7.
Jerahmey Espinoza, whose husband is missing, expressed her hopes to news agency Reuters, saying, They haven't seen him or located him ever since the disaster happened. We're still hopeful that he's alive.
The collapse's cause remains under investigation, though some officials suspect it stemmed from inadequate waste management practices at the site.
The Binaliw landfill spans an area of approximately 15 hectares and is one of many similar sites amidst the growing waste management challenges faced by major cities in the Philippines.
