Sierra Madre landslide leaves 4 dead in Quezon town

ERODED Rescuers and other volunteers reach on Wednesday the portion of Sierra Madre mountain range that slid down and buried houses in General Nakar, Quezon, on Tuesday night, causing the death of four residents. | PHOTO: Official facebook page of General Nakar, Quezon

LUCENA CITY—Four people died in a landslide that struck a remote village in the Sierra Madre mountain range in General Nakar town, Quezon province on Tuesday night, authorities said.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Mayor Eliseo Ruzol said the landslide hit a remote residential area in Sitio Angelo in Barangay Umiray following incessant rains.

General Nakar police identified the fatalities as Sherly de los Angeles, 37; her husband, Jonathan de los Angeles, 39; Dionely Datario, 36; and Ramil Binalao, 49.

The incident happened on Tuesday night but Ruzol only received the information on Wednesday morning due to the distance and poor communication signal in the area.

The mayor said the village lies on the boundary of Quezon, Bulacan and Aurora provinces. It can be reached through a two-day hike from General Nakar town center.

Mountainside

The landslide buried five houses that settled below the mountainside.

“The rescuers using a backhoe were no longer expecting added fatalities,” Ruzol said.

He said he immediately requested soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 1st Infantry Battalion based in northern Quezon for assistance to retrieve the bodies of the victims and help the other affected residents.

The local government has also dispatched rescuers, medical personnel and other community volunteers.

Airlift

“It was still raining here in General Nakar this (Wednesday) morning,” he said.

The mayor clarified that the victims were not indigenous people from the Sierra Madre but just mountain settlers from Rizal province.

He described the four victims as “mountain farmers.”

The bodies would be airlifted to the headquarters of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division in Tanay, Rizal, where they would be given to waiting relatives, Ruzol said.

He said the search and rescue operations continued as of Wednesday afternoon.

Capt. Joey Padre, General Nakar police chief, explained that the confusion in the initial report on the fifth unidentified victim stemmed from the inclusion of the unborn child of Sherly, who was pregnant.

Citing information from mountain residents, Padre said the victims were residents of Tanay, Rizal, who also stayed in Umiray.

“Aside from farming, they were also engaged in small-scale gold mining,” he said in a phone interview.