MANILA – The number of cadavers retrieved from the landslide area in Natonin, Mountain Province, has climbed further to 16, according to the local government.
Natonin Mayor Mateo Chiyawan said of the 16 bodies recovered, 11 have been identified while the rest remain unknown.
The incident command post data still lists 12 bodies as having been recovered from ground zero as of Oct. 31, excluding the body parts, while 16 are still missing.
But four bodies have since been found after search and retrieval operations in the area were extended up to seven kilometers from ground zero on Friday. Some 300 rescuers have been deployed for the operations.
The search was centered near the creek as almost all of the bodies were found there.
Thirty percent of the operation remains at ground zero while 70 percent is focused on the creek itself and its nearby areas.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) conducted a blasting on Saturday to remove a massive boulder blocking the highway, preventing vehicles from reaching incident command post.
Thick mud on the highway also made things worse for rescue vehicles.
The blasted rock was then moved by a backhoe.
Five bodies were manually transported by rescuers from the Barangay Poblacion gym and brought to their relatives.
Nine barangays are still isolated due to the landslide that buried three buildings of the DPWH earlier this week.
More than 30 individuals were believed to be trapped inside the structures. Twenty of them were construction workers of the agency, while seven were said to be evacuees. (GMA News)
