Death toll in Naga, Cebu landslide climbs to 25

The death toll from a landslide in Naga City, Cebu has climbed to 25 on Friday.

As of 11:30 a.m., a total of 25 bodies have been retrieved including a three others recovered earlier in the day, GMA News’ Sandra Aguinaldo reported on “Balitanghali.”

The landslide, possibly caused by the heavy rains, struck Thursday morning and buried dozens of houses in Barangay Naalad and Sitio Sindulan in Barangay Tinaan.

So far, rescuers were able to pull out eight survivors. A 12-year-old girl was rescued around midnight. She was reportedly the only one in her family to have survived the landslide.

At least 50 people remain missing.

In the hope of finding more survivors, rescuers continued to scour the area using heavy equipment and K9 units.

In a briefing earlier on Friday, Naga City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong said she has asked the Sangguniang Panglunsod to place the city under state of calamity.

She also asked for additional resources from the national government.

At least 275 families were evacuated to seven evacuation centers in nearby areas.

The Naga incident is the second major landslide to hit the country since Saturday, Sept. 15.

Extensive rescue operations have been going on in Itogon, Benguet where a killer landslide struck a mining area.

As of Thursday evening, twenty-three bodies have been recovered from Itogon and least 39 others remained missing.

The killer landslide in Itogon struck Typhoon Ompong tore through Northern Luzon, killing more than 60 people in the Cordillera Administrative Region and destroying billions of pesos worth of crops and infrastructure. — Margaret Claire Layug/VDS, GMA News