Philippine landfill death rises to 36 as authorities end search after 10 days
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A large section of a Philippine landfill in Barangay Binaliw collapsed on Jan 8, trapping workers beneath tonnes of garbage.
PHOTO: EPA
CEBU CITY – The Cebu City government has ended search-and-rescue operations at the Binaliw landfill after 10 days since the dumpsite collapsed.
This came after the last missing person was found past 5am local time on Jan 18.
“Today, the search-and-rescue operation at the Binaliw landfill has been officially terminated,” said Cebu City Councillor David Tumulak, chairman of the Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
Mr Tumulak said the last person was recovered at 5.41am and the fatality has yet to be identified.
With this new development, the death toll from the Binaliw incident has reached 36, with 18 injured.
Of those injured, four remain confined and are still recuperating in hospital.
“Out of the recovered bodies, six have yet to be identified,” Mr Tumulak said.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival announced that there will definitely be an investigation into why the landfill collapsed.
“(Now), everything is finished and all the missing persons have been recovered. The investigation will immediately begin,” Mr Archival said.
A large section of the landfill in Barangay Binaliw collapsed shortly before 5pm local time on Jan 8, trapping workers beneath tonnes of garbage, steel and machines used in the facility.
Following the incident, garbage collection services were disrupted.
The landfill, operated by Prime Integrated Waste Solutions, caters to Cebu City and the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
