200 Compostela villagers evacuated after landslide

MONKAYO (AP) — Philippine officials ordered 200 villagers to leave their mountainside homes yesterday after at least six neighbors were killed in a landslide.

Compostela Valley provincial officials gave the order as continuous rains threatened to unleash more mud and rocks on the village of Upper Ulip in Monkayo township, where a mudslide tumbled down the mountain late Thursday, village leader Glenda Verallio said.

A woman and her three young children were among six people whose bodies have been recovered from the mudslide, Verallio said. At least one other person was missing.

About 200 people from 35 families were given shelter in an abandoned building inside a nearby army camp, Verallio said.

Hard rain continued yesterday, forcing officials to temporarily halt the search for victims.

Landslides are common in the area, about 580 miles (930 kilometers) southeast of Manila.