Typhoon Mangkhut: Multiple landslides kill scores in the Philippines

World
Europe

02:12

The impact of DEADLY typhoon Mangkhut is becoming clearer in the Philippines. Dozens were killed in landslides in the mountainous provinces in the north. CGTN's Barnaby Lo has more on the desperate search for the missing.

Ligaya Dupingay arrived in the mining village of Ucab in the northern Philippines as soon as she heard that Typhoon Mangkhut, which hammered the region last weekend, had triggered a landslide. She's been waiting for word on the fate of loved ones who lived in the community that was buried.

LIGAYA DUPINGAY VICTIMS' RELATIVE "They haven't found my cousin, my sister, and her eldest child."

Dozens of landslides were recorded in the Cordillera region in the aftermath of Typhoon Mangkhut. But the village of Ucab in Itogon may have suffered the worst casualty, with the landslide there burying a bunkhouse where dozens of miners had apparently taken shelter.

BARNABY LO ITOGON, BENGUET "We're being told not to go further down because rain is in the forecast, but just coming down here, I can see how this is truly a landslide-prone area, and that, over there, was the huge landslide that buried a miners' bunkhouse."

ARNEL BAHINGAWAN ITOGON COUNCILOR "It appears the mountain, having already been mined, was not able to withstand almost a month of monsoon rains, with Typhoon Mangkhut being the last straw."

Armed with only hand tools, search and rescue workers, as well as volunteers, have been tirelessly digging through rubble to find bodies and hopefully, survivors.

ARNEL BAHINGAWAN ITOGON COUNCILOR "I'd say we're still in the search and rescue phase. Unfortunately, most of the ones we've found were dead."

Having seen search and rescue workers lay body bags in front of her, however, Ligaya says she's given up hope. Like many others there anxiously waiting, all she wants now is closure. Barnaby Lo, CGTN, Itogon, Benguet, the Philippines.