More than 50 bodies recovered from cleared areas in Marawi

Retrieval teams of the provincial government of Lanao del Sur have recovered more than 50 bodies from cleared areas in war-torn Marawi City.

Assemblyman Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesman of the Provincial Crisis Management Committee, said a total of 57 bodies have been recovered by the retrieval teams.

Adiong said the bodies belonged to slain civilians and Maute group members, but have yet to be identified.

He said that after the recovery, the bodies were brought to Iligan City for processing by the Philippine National Police-Crime Laboratory.

Meanwhile, the assemblyman said they have asked the police to send a mobile laboratory to Marawi City for faster processing of the bodies that will be recovered.

The military has said that more than 40 civilians have been confirmed killed by the Maute group.

It also reported that more than 300 militants and at least 80 from the government side have been killed in the ongoing conflict, which started on May 23. —report from Allan Gatus/ALG/KVD, GMA News