33 houses buried in Davao landslide

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Dozens of homes have been destroyed and hundreds of people fled after a landslide hit a Davao del Norte village, authorities said today.

The avalanche of loose earth buried 33 houses in three communities in the mountain village of Mambing in New Corella, Davao del Norte, Sonio Sanchez, provincial disaster officer, said.

No one was hurt as the residents were able to flee as the hilly portion of the village collapsed amid a heavy rain around 2:30 p.m. yesterday, Sanchez said.

At least 156 families were evacuated and are now staying at a village hall and provincial officials have sent relief goods for the affected families, according to Mayor Nestor Alcoran.

The mayor said experts from the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau of the government's Department of Environment and Natural Resources have been sent to the area to conduct assessment as to the risk of more landslides.

He suspected a wide crack caused by torrential rains during last year's Typhoon Bopha at the upper portion of the village might have collapsed, causing the landslide.

The mineral-rich southern Philippines region has been a scene of deadly landslides due to the presence of communities in steep villages.

A landslide at a mining village in nearby Compostela Valley province killed at least 40 people.