DavOr landslide toll now 37

The number of deaths in a landslide that hit Barangay Masara in Maco town, Davao de Oro climbed to 37 as the search, rescue, and retrieval operation entered its fifth day on Sunday.

The Maco municipal disaster risk reduction and management office confirmed the recovery of a total of 37 bodies as of noon yesterday, while 63 others remained missing.

In a radio interview, Davao de Oro executive assistant for communications and public relations, Edward Macapili, said no landslide survivor had been found since Saturday.

“But the number of cadavers being recovered is increasing,” he said.

According to Macapili, the entire landslide area from crown to foot is 1.9 hectares, and the thickness of the soil that got dumped on the village varied from 30 meters to 50 meters — making it difficult to conduct SRR and clearing operations.

Macapili said the rescuers had to stop the operations for two hours on Saturday after detecting a movement or scarring of the soil from the landslide area at the back of the mountain.

The rescuers were immediately ordered to evacuate, he added.

Scattered rains in the area on early Sunday forced rescuers to evacuate to safer grounds from time to time.

Rescuers also have to endure the movement of the ground at the landslide area’s ground zero.

“Today, the sky was dark, and it was raining last night until early this morning. In spite of that, our operation continues,” Macapili said.

Most retrieved bodies were found in sections of the slide, which are only eight to 10 meters thick. Other miners and responders from different provinces have volunteered to help.

Macapili said volunteer miners from Agusan del Sur have recovered two bodies.

“But they need to coordinate with the incident commander at the ground zero because we prioritize the safety of everyone,” he said.

As this developed, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Sunday said the Mindanao flooding and landslides due to heavy rains have so far resulted in P738.6 million worth of damage to infrastructure.

The NDRRMC said the CARAGA region sustained the highest damage at P473 million for 32 infrastructure facilities. At least 134 infrastructure facilities in the Davao region were affected, with damages at P265.6 million.

A total of 1,344 houses were also damaged in Northern Mindanao, Davao

Region, and Caraga from 28 January to 3 February after being affected by the Northeast Monsoon (Amihan) and the trough of a now-dissipated low-pressure area.

Of the number, 558 were totally destroyed, while 786 were partially damaged.

A total of 1,389,073 individuals or 415,494 families in 818 barangays in Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Soccsksargen, Caraga and Bangsamoro Region were affected by the heavy flooding and landslide, with nearly 50,000 people remaining in evacuation centers, while more than 300,000 were staying with relatives or friends.