The death toll from landslides in the Davao region caused by heavy rains last week rose to 13 on Sunday after the last of the bodies suspected buried in the mud was retrieved from the Mt. Diwata site, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Sunday.
OCD Region 11 Director Ednar Dayanghirang said 10 died in Barangay Mt. Diwata in Monkayo, Davao de Oro, in addition to two in Davao City, and one in Maragusan, Davao de Oro.
“13 died, six were injured, and one remains missing in Mt. Diwata,” he said.
Davao de Oro provincial government information officer Fe Maestre said that 13 people died in their province alone. Eleven of the dead were in Barangay Mt. Diwata.
One person also died each in the municipalities of Maragusan and Pantukan.
Maestre said all the people reported missing in Davao de Oro have been accounted for.
Meanwhile, the Mati City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDDRMO) announced that 300 miners who were stranded because of the flood in Davao Oriental have safely returned to their homes.
Mati CDRRMO head Charlemagne Bagasol clarified an earlier media report that the miners working for Hallmark Mining in Brgy. Macambol last Thursday, Jan. 18, were not “trapped.” They just could not pass through their usual route because of the rushing flood waters.
Citing information from a village captain, Bagasol said the miners were about to head home when the flood happened. They were advised to return to their camp and let the waters subside first before leaving the mining site.
“The company sent the miners back to their camp, so that they would be safer from the flood. Then the barangay official suggested a sea rescue and upon assessment we told them that it is dangerous because the current is strong and the waves are big,” he reported.
Vice President Sara Duterte visited the landslide victims in Monkayo on Saturday afternoon and offered condolences to the families left by the victims of the deadly landslide.
Duterte also brought sacks of rice and cash assistance to the families, saying the aid will complement the assistance from the local government.
She talked to each family and discussed what happened during the tragic landslide. Some families also asked Duterte for a safe and new home.
Around 490,000 individuals or 111,000 families in 297 barangays were affected by the flooding in the entire Davao Region, according to Dayanghirang.
As of Sunday, he said the weather has improved in the Davao provinces and the floods have subsided. Damage to agriculture, however, has reached P57 million, while 40 houses were damaged by the floods and landslides.