4 hurt in Baguio landslide

BAGUIO CITY , Philippines  – Two couples in their sleep were buried alive in a huge landslide early yesterday morning after torrential rains for three days now saturated the soil along the slope where their house stood along Marcos Highway here.

Rescue operations saved the day for them though, said Rafael Valencia, head of the private rescue group 911-on-call.

Spouses Ricardo and Maricel Villanueva and Rodolfo and Lorma Butarde were dug out from the thick and wet mud less than an hour after the landslide at around 3:45 yesterday morning. They were brought to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center for treatment.

Valencia said that the saturated soil from where the two-storey chalet-type residential house gave in and moved it towards the cliff below it.

Yesterday morning’s landslide is perhaps the first incident here as the wet season ushers in.