CEBU CITY – Six more bodies were recovered from the collapsed dumpsite in Barangay Binaliw here on Wednesday, Jan. 14, raising the death toll in the trash slide to 19.

All fatalities have been identified while rescuers are still searching for 17 missing.

SFO3 Wendell Villanueva, information officer of the Cebu City Fire Department, said efforts have yet to shift from search and rescue to search and retrieval operations.

“We sympathize with the families of the victims. We want to give them hope that their relatives who were buried by a pile of garbage are still alive,” said Villanueva.

Villanueva said rescuers have detected heartbeats but it was not certain if they are that of humans or animals.

Heavy machines are being used to find the remaining victims, who are believed to have been pinned down by a structure that collapsed after tons of garbage rolled down.

“The structure is made mostly of metals but because tons of garbage collapsed on it, it really caved in,” said Villanueva.

The structure housed offices of Prime Integrated Waste Solutions Inc. (PIWSI). More than 30 workers were on duty when the structure was pinned down by the avalanche of garbage.

As the search continued, the private landfill operative was urged to take an active role in dealing with the situation.

Councilor Dave Tumulak, head of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CCDRRMC), lamented that since the tragedy struck on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 8, information on what is happening on the ground coming from the company has been limited.

Tumulak said the company should be in constant communication with relatives of the victims and city officials.

“We already urged the management to assign someone who can speak for them and answer queries, especially for the families involved,” Tumulak told reporters. “Until now, I have not seen anyone clearly accountable.”