The death toll from Typhoon Mangkhut in the Philippines has risen to 74.  Many of the victims were miners trapped in a landslide. CGTN's Barnaby Lo reports people are now demanding changes in the country's mining industry.

When Lolita Kakanin arrived in the village of Ucab in the northern Philippines, she had already known that her son, Jonathan, died in a landslide. But seeing his body on the ground, lifeless, was something she could never be ready for. Jonathan was one of dozens of gold miners who sought shelter in a bunkhouse as Typhoon Mangkhut approached the Philippines. The landslide buried the bunkhouse and the miners.

LOLITA KAKANIN MOTHER OF VICTIM "He was aware of the dangers of working in a gold mine. But he had to find a way to make a living. I told him to be careful. He said, 'Yes, Mama, I know.'"

But the miners had apparently underestimated the potential danger of torrential downpours brought about by the monsoon season and Typhoon Mangkhut, locally known as Ompong.

FRANCIS TOLENTINO CABINET SECRETARY "The Philippine National Police of this area, I have pictures I can show, went house to house, encouraging, persuading the residents to go to the evacuation centers."

BARNABY LO ITOGON, BENGUET "Residents we spoke with say there was already a small landslide here due to monsoon rains even before Typhoon Mangkhut hit. So this huge landslide that you see behind me? It's not totally unexpected."

FRANCIS TOLENTINO CABINET SECRETARY "Do we attribute everything to Ompong, or the loosening of the soil due to previous mining operations which resulted in soil subsidence? So the reaction of the DENR yesterday was to stop illegal mining operations."

It's a problem even miners may be aware of, but they choose to risk their lives to put food on the table.

LOLITA KAKANIN MOTHER OF VICTIM "Jonathan told his eldest that he was coming home for good, that he was not going to go back to the gold mines. But he's gone now."

With illegal mining operations rampant in the country, and extreme weather unstoppable, there's fear that the tragedy in Ucab may not be the last. Barnaby Lo, CGTN, Itogon, Benguet, the Philippines.