‘Racing against time’: Death toll up as search goes on for survivors in Philippine dump site collapse

MANILA – Hard hat-wearing rescue workers and backhoes dug through rubble searching for survivors on Jan 10 in the shadow of a mountain of garbage that has buried dozens of landfill employees in the central Philippines, killing at least four.

About 50 sanitation workers were buried when refuse toppled onto them on Jan 8 from what a city councillor estimated was a height of 20 storeys at the Binaliw Landfill, a privately operated facility in Cebu City.

Rescuers were facing the danger of further collapse as they navigated the wreckage, Cebu rescuer Jo Reyes told AFP on Jan 10.

“Operations are ongoing at the moment. It is continuous. (But) from time to time, the landfill is moving, and that will temporarily stop the operation,” she said.

Cebu City councillor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the city’s disaster council, told AFP another two bodies had been uncovered on Jan 10 by crews working in 24-hour shifts.

The discovery brings the death toll to six, while 32 people remain missing.

“We found another two bodies, but we cannot retrieve the bodies because of the heavy metal beam that fell on them, so we are trying to cut the metal,” Mr Tumulak said.

To assist in the rescue operation, 20 trucks equipped with hydraulic cranes and specialised cutting attachments were being sent to help rescuers who have had to crawl to reach areas blocked by debris.

“Our rescuers are struggling because the metal beams are big,” Mr Tumulak said. “With (the trucks), the metal can be lifted, and our rescuers can navigate the site more efficiently.

“We are just hoping that we can get someone alive... We are racing against time, that’s why our deployment is 24/7.”

Twelve employees have so far been pulled alive from the garbage and hospitalised.

‘Praying for miracles’

Numerous families were on site awaiting word on the fate of their relatives, Mr Joel Garganera, another Cebu City council member, told AFP. “We are hoping against hope here and praying for miracles,” he said.

The city councillor described the height from which the trash fell as “alarming”, estimating the top of the pile had stood 20 storeys above the stricken area.

“Every now and then when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city of Cebu... How much more (dangerous is that) for a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage?” Mr Garganera said.

“The garbage is like a sponge; it really absorbs water. It doesn’t (take) a rocket scientist to say that, eventually, the incident will happen.”

Drivers had long complained about the dangers of navigating the steep road to the top, he added.

Photos released by police on Jan 9 showed a massive mound of trash atop a hill directly behind buildings that a city information officer told AFP also housed administrative offices.

Mr Garganera noted that the disaster was a “double whammy” for the city, as the facility was the “lone service provider” for Cebu and adjacent communities.

The landfill “processes 1,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily”, according to the website of its operator, Prime Integrated Waste Solutions.

Calls and e-mails to the company have so far gone unreturned.

Ms Rita Cogay, who operates a compactor at the site, told AFP on Jan 9 that she had stepped outside to get a drink of water just moments before the building she had been in was crushed.

“I thought a helicopter had crashed. But when I turned, it was the garbage and the building coming down,” the 49-year-old said. AFP