At Least 40 Feared Trapped In Philippines Landslide: Police

A Philippine police officer has said at least 40 people, mostly gold miners, are feared to have been trapped in a landslide in the country’s north and seven bodies have been dug out by rescuers.

Police Superintendent Pelita Tacio on Friday told the The Associated Press that a part of a mountain slope collapsed on the miners’ bunkhouses in a far-flung village of Itogon town in the Benguet province as Typhoon Mangkhut’s ferocious winds and rain pounded the gold-mining region on Saturday.

Tacio, who was at the scene of the landslide earlier Sunday, says rescuers found another man but could not immediately pluck his body, which was pinned by rocks and mud.

A police officer said rescuers couldn’t access the area on Saturday because the ground was unstable.

Philippine police say the death toll from Typhoon Mangkhut has climbed to 64.

The national police also say 45 other people are missing and 33 were injured in the massive storm, which battered the northern Philippines on Saturday.