Typhoon Mangkhut triggers landslide in Philippines, burying dozens in chapel

Desdemona Despair

By Janis Mackey Frayer and Yuliya Talmazan
17 September 2018

ITOGON, Philippines (NBC News) – Dozens of miners and their families sheltering in a chapel were feared dead on Monday after a powerful typhoon swept through the Philippines and triggered a huge landslide that buried much of the remote community.

Typhoon Mangkhut, with sustained winds of around 124 mph and gusts of up to around 200 mph, barreled past the northern tip of the Philippines this weekend, killing at least 65 people. The storm then skirted south of Hong Kong and neighboring gambling hub of Macau before making landfall in China, where four deaths were reported.

In the Philippines, the typhoon affected about five million altogether — 150,000 of whom were in evacuation centers when the storm hit. In the mining town of Itogon in the north of the island nation, hundreds of rescue workers using shovels and sometimes their bare hands battled treacherous conditions and heat to search for survivors after the typhoon’s heavy rains triggered two landslides.

As of Monday, local authorities told NBC News that they were searching for 56 people who were still missing. Officials earlier said that they were looking for up to 100 people — mostly local miners and their families. The official number of missing could go up as officials are relying on family members to report the names of those believed to be trapped under the debris.

Local miner Roel Ulani told NBC News that he had watched from a distance as part of the hill collapsed on Sunday, burying dozens. He said the victims had been taking shelter in a former workers’ dormitory that had been refurbished into a chapel when the landslide hit. A second landslide blocked any means to escape, leaving the community completely trapped. [more]

Typhoon Mangkhut triggers landslide in Philippines, burying dozens in chapel