Mountain of garbage collapses at Philippines landfill, killing one and burying dozens

Rescuers searched Friday for dozens of people buried under a mountain of garbage that collapsed at a landfill in the central Philippines, killing at least one person.

Nearly 50 people were buried when the huge pile of garbage fell on them Thursday at the Binaliw landfill, a private facility in Cebu City, officials said.

Landfill workers were among them, but it was unclear whether there were nearby residents or others, The Associated Press reported.

“There are signs of life,” Cebu Mayor Nestor Archival said at a press briefing, adding that hundreds of rescuers already on the scene would be joined by “500 more” for search efforts expected to last at least until Sunday.

Rescuers were limited in the equipment they could use because any sparks threatened to ignite the methane emitted by the landfill, he said.

Thirty-four people remain missing, according to Archival, revising downward the count of 38 given earlier on its Facebook page.

At least 12 employees were pulled alive from the trash and hospitalized.

Jason Morata, the city’s deputy public information officer, told AFP the mountain of trash “must be four stories high.”

Aerial photos released by police show what appear to be multiple structures crushed under the weight of garbage.

Morata said the buildings housed “corporate offices, human resources, administration and maintenance staff” of the private company that manages the site.

“We take into account several factors. If you remember, Cebu was hit by two typhoons at the end of 2025 …and also an earthquake,” he said.

Morata added that information was appearing in trickles because there was “no signal” at the dump site.

The landfill “processes 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily, according to the website of operator Prime Integrated Waste Solutions. It has 110 employees, specifies the AP.

Calls to the company went unanswered Friday.

“We don’t know what caused the collapse. It wasn’t raining at all,” said Marge Parcotello, a civilian police employee in Consolacion, a town that shares a common boundary with the landfill.

“Many of the victims come from Consolacion,” she said.

Safety and health concerns have long surrounded landfills in many Philippine cities and towns, particularly those near poor communities whose residents scavenge junk food and food scraps from trash heaps, the AP notes.

More than 200 people were killed in July 2000 when an avalanche of garbage ravaged a Manila shantytown populated by several thousand scavengers.

The tragedy, the worst of its kind in Philippine history, sparked public outrage over open dumpsites. Legislation to better regulate waste management was passed months later.