Davao de Oro landslide death toll increasing

MANILA, Philippines — The number of fatalities in a rain-induced landslide that buried two buses and several houses in Maco, Davao de Oro has increased to 55.

Reports from the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (MDRRMO) showed that as of yesterday, at least 63 people remained missing following the landslide that occurred in Barangay Masara on Feb. 6.

Thirty-two people have been rescued since the incident that was triggered by days of torrential rain over Davao de Oro and other parts of Mindanao.

The Maco disaster office’s search and rescue operations continue with the help of various response teams including the military.

Food and other basic needs are being provided to hundreds of families displaced by the landslide.

Col. Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office, said air assets from the US military are among those helping to bring assistance to Davao de Oro.

Trinidad said the US and the Philippine military utilized two Hercules aircraft to deliver supplies to Barangay Masara.

He said a team from the US Marines is assisting in the disaster relief mission and supply distribution.

The US government will provide humanitarian assistance amounting to P70 million for people displaced by calamities in Mindanao, according to the US embassy.

In a statement released yesterday, the embassy said the funds would be coursed through the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The embassy said the USAID would deliver food, shelter, water, sanitation and essential hygiene items to disaster-hit communities in Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte and Davao City.

The USAID will partner with the Catholic Relief Services and Action Against Hunger to ensure that the assistance reaches the most vulnerable groups, including single-parent households, persons with disability, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly and indigenous peoples. — Roel Pareño, Pia Lee-Brago