MANILA — Search and rescue operations continued Friday for at least 38 missing people feared trapped after a landfill in the collapsed on Thursday, killing one person and injuring several others, city officials have said.
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival said in a social media post that more than 100 workers were at the landfill when the structure gave way on Thursday afternoon.
As of early Friday, Archival said 12 people had been rescued, while one fatality had been confirmed. He identified the victim as a 22-year-old woman.
Rescue efforts were slowed by hazardous conditions at the site, said Joel Garganera, chair of the Cebu City Council committee on environment.
“The steel trusses are massive, the garbage is soft, and there is a constant risk of movement,” Garganera told local reporters late Thursday. He also expressed a serious concern about toxic air, which could endanger anyone trapped for too long.
The landfill, located in the village of Binaliw, serves as a disposal site for waste from Cebu City and the nearby municipality of Consolacion.