DAVAO CITY – A massive search and rescue is under way on Wednesday, February 7, following a massive landslide in Barangay Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro, on Tuesday evening, February 6.

DRONE photos show the landslide-hit area in Barangay Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro, on February 7. (Photo courtesy of Wander Rider)

Seven persons were killed and 48 others remain missing in the landslide.

Rescue operations were temporarily suspended around 5 p.m. due to bad weather.

Edward Macapili, executive assistant on communications and public relations of the provincial government of Davao de Oro, said responders recovered the bodies and 31 others were rescued and taken to the hospital as of 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 7.

Macapili could not confirm a report from the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Eastern Mindanao Command that 45 persons have been rescued.

He said that they could not say how many were actually buried in the landslide as verification is still ongoing.

The EMC reported that 86 persons were buried alive in the landslide.

Three persons were in critical condition and need air evacuation, it added. "Three of the individuals in critical condition requiring urgent air evacuation," the EMC said as efforts to locate and rescue the remaining 41 individuals as declared by Apex Mines continue.

Pictures and videos that made rounds in social media showed that several houses were buried in the massive landslide.

The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office in Maco said responders were immediately deployed on Tuesday night.

However, rescue operations were halted around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, February 7, due to hazardous conditions and the deteriorating situation on the ground.

The MDRRMO confirmed initial reports that two buses ferrying miners of Apex Mining were buried in the landslide. But the mining firm said that the landslide took place outside their mining site. The landslide site is where the firm's buses wait for its passengers.

Neighboring local government units have sent responders to assist in the ongoing rescue operations.

SOLDIERS from the Army 60th Infantry Battalion ferry landslide survivors from an air ambulance upon arrival in Maco, Davao de Oro, on Wednesday, February 7. (60th Infantry Battalion)

The MDRRMO said the landslide was said to be caused by the combined rains brought by the shear line two weeks ago and the recent trough of the low-pressure area.

The EMC said that at least 600 individuals from neighboring communities have been evacuated to safer locations. “However, there are reports of unaccounted individuals believed to be affected by the landslide.”

The MDRRMO said that an air ambulance of the Philippine Air Force has been deployed to ferry survivors to the hospitals.

Davao de Oro, a known mineral-rich province, area is one of the hardest-hit provinces in Davao region in the recent onslaught of continuous rains that triggered landslides and severe flooding.

History of landslides

The diminishing forest cover and mining operations may have attributed to the long history of landslides in the province.

The hinterlands of Maco, Monkayo, and Pantukan are known gold-rush sites operated by small-scale gold miners.

These gold rush sites had been hit by landslides in the past and left hundreds of miners and villagers killed or missing.

In 2005, 32 persons were killed in a landslide in the gold-rush village in Barangay Diwata, popularly known as Diwalwal, in Monkayo, Davao de Oro.

Three years later, 24 persons were killed when a landslide hit Barangay Masara.

Last January 18, 11 persons were killed in a landslide that hit Diwalwal.