20 dead, 19 missing in southern Philippine landslides

Manila - Rescuers on Tuesday dug up four more bodies from the rubble of two weekend landslides that struck a mining village in the southern Philippines, bringing the death toll to 20.

Nineteen people were still missing in the landslides in Masara village in Maco town, Compostela Valley province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, Mayor Voltaire Rimando said.

Rimando said 23 people were also injured in the landslides, which struck Saturday and Sunday after days of continuous heavy rains.

About 45 homes built on the foothills of a mountain were destroyed when tons of mud and boulders crashed into Masara.

Provincial welfare officer Joseph Frasco said nearly 8,000 people have fled Masara and the adjacent village of Mainit amid warnings of more landslides.

She said minor landslides have cut off some roads leading to Masara.

In August last year, 10 people were killed when a landslide struck Masara, which geologists had warned was located in a hazardous area. (dpa)