Mining area in South Cotabato evacuated

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—Mayor Ernesto Manuel of T’boli, South Cotabato, ordered the evacuation of residents from a mining area where a landslide killed a person last Thursday.

Manuel said the evacuation order was meant to prevent the loss of more lives and property in Sitio Ipil-Ipilan in the gold-rich village of Kematu.

Thursday’s landslide, which occurred during a heavy rain, buried several houses and was the second to hit Kematu this year.

On March 30, four miners died when a landslide buried their tunnel.