PHOTO
This handout photo taken and released by the Municipality of Monkayo on January 18, 2024 shows rescuers conducting a rescue and retrieval operation, a day after a landslide hit a house in Monkayo, where at least seven people were killed, a disaster official said, with the death toll expected to rise. - The incident happened in the morning in a mountainous gold mining region of Davao de Oro province on Mindanao island, where heavy rain has triggered flooding and landslides this week. (Photo by Handout / Municipality of Monkayo / AFP)
The death toll from a landslide in the southern Philippines has risen to 10, a disaster official said Friday, as the search for one missing person continued.
Fourteen people were gathered in a house for a prayer meeting in the mountainous gold mining region of Davao de Oro province when the landslide hit Thursday following days of heavy rain.
Rescuers have recovered 10 bodies, including five children from the same family, Monkayo municipal disaster officer Rocris Idul told AFP.
One man, a woman and a one-year-old baby girl were pulled alive from the mud. The adults suffered minor injuries, but the child was severely hurt, official data showed.
One person is still missing.
"We're hoping to find the last body as soon as we can," Idul said, but added that search operations were being hampered by more landslides in the area on Friday.
"A significant mass of land was eroded in the area this morning so we had to stop for around 15 to 30 minutes," Idul said.
"We cannot risk the lives of our responders."
