Davao de Oro landslide death toll now at 98

A total of 98 individuals are confirmed to have died from the deadly landslides in Maco, Davao de Oro, according to the municipal government.

"As of 12 noon today, we have a total of 98 retrieved bodies which includes complete body parts and body parts," said Management of the Dead and the Missing (MDM) unit personnel, Lea Añora in a press briefing on Saturday.

"Eighty-eight were complete body parts and 10 body parts and we have 79 identified bodies and we still have 18 unidentified retrieved bodies," she added. 

Meanwhile, Incident Commander Engineer Ariel Capoy said that the search and retrieval team is still conducting excavation work from ground zero for the nine people still missing. 

Four of those who are still missing are from the immediate community, four from Maria-Socio General Services Inc. (MSGSI) and one from APEX Mining. 

The landslide on February 6 hit around four barangays, burying some houses, a barangay hall, and the terminal of a bus company.  

A child survivor was recovered from the rubble two days after the landslide on February 9. The three-year-old girl received medical attention at the hospital and is in stable condition.

Since January 28, some areas in Mindanao have experienced flooding and landslides due to the rains brought by the effects of the Northeast Monsoon or Amihan and the trough of a now dissipated low pressure area.

A total of 1,521,478 people or 455,265 families were affected by the bad weather, according to the Thursday report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The affected regions were Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen, Caraga, and Bangsamoro.

Damage to infrastructure worth P827,075,125 and to agriculture worth P502,482,986 was reported. A total of 1,603 houses were also damaged— 937 partially and 666 totally.

State of calamity has been declared in the following areas:

• Maco, Davao de Oro
• Agusan del Sur (province-wide)
• Lingig, Surigao del Sur
• Butuan City
• Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte

Assistance worth P218,713,346 has been provided to the victims, according to the NDRRMC. —VAL, GMA Integrated News