Miracle rescue: 2 kids survive 60 hours in rubble

15 dead, 110 still missing in Davao landslide

MANILA, Philippines — A young girl and a baby boy miraculously survived the landslide that hit the gold-mining village of Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro three days after it occurred.

The rescue has been hailed as a “miracle” after searchers had given up hope of finding anyone alive nearly 60 hours after the tragedy.

The municipal government of Maco confirmed to The STAR that the three-year-old girl, dubbed “The Angel of Masara,” was rescued yesterday morning.

On the other hand, the two-month-old baby’s rescue was reported by the Philippine Red Cross Emergency Response Unit in the afternoon. He was suffering from severe diarrhea.

Both children were brought to the Doctors Community Hospital in Mawab for treatment.

According to accounts, the young girl was able to hold on to a woman before being swept away by the landslide, Office of Civil Defense-Davao Region chief Ednar Dayanghirang said.

The girl was said to have been buried in a spot with a hollow portion that allowed her to breathe. The girl was frail and severely dehydrated when the rescuers found her.

She was found as rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to look for survivors, disaster agency official Edward Macapili of Davao de Oro told AFP.

“That gives hope to the rescuers,” he said.

Video of a rescuer carrying the crying, mud-caked child in his arms was posted on Facebook.

“We can see in the social media posts that the child did not have any visible injuries,” Macapili said, adding that authorities have ordered not to release the names of the victims.

15 dead, 110 missing

Maco municipality reported that the number of injured people is now at 32 while the casualty count has risen to 15, with 110 still missing.

Meanwhile, hundreds of families from Masara and four nearby villages had to be taken to safer ground and are still staying in various evacuation centers in the locality where their basic needs are being provided. Schools across the municipality have also suspended classes.

The Philippine Red Cross has earlier deployed two water tankers in Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte to help communities that lost access to clean and safe drinking water following heavy rains and floods.

Labor group Federation of Free Workers (FFW) also urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to provide assistance to the mineworkers who were engulfed by the landslide on Tuesday.

“Other than expediting their Social Security System benefits and DOLE - Employees’ Compensation Commission work-related statutory benefits, we also suggest to SSS and ECC to go to the ground to jointly and promptly extend support, including financial aid, psychosocial interventions, and employment assistance to the victims and their families,” Arlene Degayo Golloso, FFW governing board member said.

The FFW is also calling for a thorough investigation to be led by the DOLE along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the concerned local government unit on the incident to prevent similar occurrences.

 “There is a need for strict adherence to occupational health and safety standards as well as ensuring green jobs and environmental safety,” said Golloso.

The Maco municipal disaster risk reduction management office is now continuously conducting search and rescue operations with the military and other search and rescue teams from the provincial and national governments.

Searchers were in a race against time and the weather Friday to find anyone else alive in the thick mud as rain fell over the area.

While rescuers were using heavy earth-moving equipment in some places, they had to rely on their bare hands and shovels in areas where they believed there were bodies.

Sniffer dogs were also being used to detect those buried in the mud and rubble.

The area hit by the landslide had been declared a “no build zone” after previous landslides in 2007 and 2008, Macapili said.

“People were asked to leave that place and they were given a resettlement area, but the people are so hardheaded and they returned,” he said. — Michael Punongbayan, Emmanuel Tupas, Rhodina Villanueva