CEBU CITY–At least two persons were killed while several others were evacuated during a landslide that hit Sitio Lower Ponce in Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City, on Thursday night.
Nagiel Bañacia, head of the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, said heavy rains on Thursday afternoon loosened the soil as well as the bamboo trees along the Guadalupe River, triggering a landslide.
The loose soil and uprooted bamboo trees hit several houses, killing Elpedio Geraga,64, and Juvelyn Sanipa, 31 at 8:45 p.m. on Thursday.
Bañacia said on his Facebook post that it took rescuers at least four hours before they managed to pull the bodies that were buried underneath a pile of earth, broken bamboo branches and slabs of collapsed walls and ceilings.
He said that at least four other families consisting of eight adults and over a dozen minors were also evacuated to the Capitol Site Barangay Hall.
Banacia said soil in the area remained unstable making it unsafe for nearby residents.
Heavy rains in Cebu City and the rest of Metro Cebu, which started at 3 p.m., had also triggered knee-deep floods especially in the downtown area.