Rescuers pulled eight people alive from the debris after a massive mound of waste collapsed at the landfill in Binaliw, Cebu City, police said on Friday.
An avalanche of rubbish has buried workers at a waste segregation facility in a central Philippine city, killing one person, injuring seven others and leaving at least 27 people missing, according to police.
Rescuers pulled eight people alive from the debris after a massive mound of waste collapsed at the landfill in Binaliw, Cebu City, police said on Friday.
Search operations were continuing for those believed to be trapped under the rubble.
The victims included landfill workers, though it was not immediately clear whether non-workers were also affected.
One of the survivors, a female landfill worker, later died while being transported to hospital, regional police director Roderick Maranan told The Associated Press. The remaining rescued victims sustained injuries.
Maranan said at least 27 people were still missing, citing an initial police report. However, Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival said at least 12 people had been rescued and 38 others remained unaccounted for, though the reason for the discrepancy in figures was unclear.
“All response teams remain fully engaged in search and retrieval operations to locate the remaining missing persons, with strict adherence to safety protocols,” Archival said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Dozens of rescuers worked through the night at the landfill site, searching for people trapped beneath the waste. Aerial images released by police showed several structures crushed by the collapsed rubbish.
Jason Morata, an assistant public information officer for the city, said the destroyed buildings housed company offices, human resources, administrative and maintenance staff for the private firm operating the landfill.
He described the rubbish mound as being about four storeys high.
Morata added that communication from the site was limited due to poor network coverage.
The landfill, operated by Prime Integrated Waste Solutions, processes about 1,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily, according to the company’s website.
Authorities said the cause of the collapse remained unknown. “It wasn’t raining at all,” said Marge Parcotello, a civilian staff member of the Consolacion police department, noting that many of the victims were from the neighbouring town.
The disaster recalls a deadly landfill collapse in Manila in July 2000, when more than 200 people were killed after a rubbish avalanche swept through a shanty town.
That tragedy triggered public outrage and led to the passage of legislation aimed at improving waste management regulations in the Philippines.
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