2 more bodies recovered in Itogon landslide

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Philippines — Two more bodies were recovered yesterday, bringing the total to 31 fatalities dug up by rescuers since the landslide buried a mining shelter in Itogon, Benguet during the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong last weekend.

Officials said retrieval operations are expected to speed up with Philex Mines adding another backhoe to the two diggers used by rescuers at the site in Barangay Ucab.

Benguet police director Senior Supt. Lyndon Mencio said the two diggers were used during retrieval operations in a separate landslide in Loakan.

With the retrieval of two bodies, officials said the number of missing was reduced to 39.

Most of the dead were retrieved from the bunkhouse used by the former Benguet Corp., which is located outside the mining tunnel just below the mountain slopes.

Almost a hundred small-scale miners were buried in the bunkhouse in the landslide during the onslaught of Ompong a week ago.

Most of those killed in the storm died in landslides in the Cordillera range, which includes Itogon and other towns in a region known for gold mining.

Authorities said the death toll rose to almost a hundred, primarily due to corpses recovered from the Itogon slide.

Ompong swamped fields in Northern Luzon and smashed houses when it tore through the area last weekend. Most of the dead were from landslides in the mountainous regions hit by the typhoon.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said it would donate seized smuggled goods to victims of Typhoon Ompong.

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said they would donate 6,921 bags of glutinous rice that were seized from the port of Zamboanga. 

He also pledged the BOC would donate 109 packages of emergency survival blankets, 153 packages of masks, 350 boxes of bed sheets, blankets, towels and 1,332 boxes of clothes. 

“We will be donating more goods in the coming days. You can rest assured that the Bureau of Customs will be there to help, especially during times of calamities and during times of need,” Lapeña said.  – With Evelyn Macairan