MANILA, Feb 07 (AFP/Reuters): Rescuers searched Wednesday for 20 people trapped inside two buses buried by a rain-induced landslide in a mountainous region of the southern Philippines, an official said.
At least 28 people were on board two buses outside a gold mine in Davao de Oro province on Mindanao island when the landslide hit Tuesday night, but eight managed to escape, provincial disaster official Edward Macapili told AFP.
Eleven villagers were also injured. Two of them were seriously hurt and were airlifted to a hospital in Davao City for treatment, Macapili said.
"There was no sign that a landslide would occur because the rains stopped on Thursday and by Friday it was already sunny and hot," Macapili said.
Rain has pounded parts of Mindanao off and on for weeks, forcing tens of thousands into emergency shelters.
Edward Macapili, provincial disaster official, said in a phone interview that the two buses were carrying a total of 27 passengers, and it is likely they have been included in the 46 recorded missing.
Based on the account of Apex Mining, there were four 60-seater buses and one jeep with a 36-passenger capacity waiting for the outgoing employees of the mine before the disaster struck.
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