2 killed in Camotes Island landslide

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Two persons were killed in a landslide on Friday morning while quarrying for limestone in Poro town, Camotes Island, northeast of Cebu City.

It took rescuers more than 30 minutes to retrieve the bodies of Eliseo Tindog, 59, of Sitio Tugas in Barangay Cagcagan, and Nandy “Tata” Estrera, 30, of Sitio Kapasanan, Barangay San Jose.

The victims were with two other companions who were quarrying for limestone to be used in the construction of a house being build by Tindog’s  daughter.

Senior Police Officer 2 David Sotto, Poro police investigator, said Tindog and Estrera did not notice debris was starting to fall in the shallow portion of the cliff where they were quarrying for limestone. He said that when the landslide struck, the two failed to run to safety. Their two companions, who were two meters away from them, escape unscathed.

Sotto  said he didn’t have the names of the two survivors.

He said it was raining at that time and this may have caused the soil to loosen and trigger the landslide.

Sotto said the cliff in Sitio Libas was a known quarry site for limestone but the Poro municipal government had stopped the practice because it the area was prone to landslides. People nonetheless continue  to defy, Sotto added.