Philippine landslide death toll rises to 28

Philippine military and civilian volunteers continue search operations for possible bodies of landslide victims at a mining community at Napnapan village in Compostela Valley, southern Philippines

The death toll rose to 28 in a landslide that struck a gold-rush site in the southern Philippines, with at least 36 others still missing, the Office of Civil Defence said yesterday. Rescuers have not yet found any survivors in the mud and rock strewn over the village of Napnapan in Pantukan town in Compostela Valley, 930 kilometres south of Manila. The landslide buried more than 50 shanty houses on Thursday after two days of heavy rains. The victims were small-scale miners and their families. The Office of Civil Defence said the number of missing was down from 100 to 36 after reports of unaccounted-for persons were consolidated. DPA