Mountain of Garbage Kills 4 in Philippines

By Staff, Agencies 

Rescue teams in Philippine’s Cebu City continue to search for survivors following a deadly garbage landslide at the Binaliw landfill that killed at least four sanitation workers and left dozens more missing.

The Cebu landfill collapse occurred on Thursday when a massive heap of refuse, estimated to be 20 stories’ high, collapsed, burying around 50 employees working at the site. The privately operated facility, run by Prime Integrated Waste Solutions, serves as the primary waste processing center for Cebu and surrounding communities.

As of Saturday, rescuers were working under dangerous conditions, with the landfill remaining unstable. “From time to time, the landfill is moving, and that will temporarily stop the operation,” said Jo Reyes, a Cebu rescuer. “We have to stop for a while for the safety of our rescuers.”

Efforts have been slowed by a poor signal in the area and the risk of further collapse. So far, 12 people have been rescued alive and hospitalized. City officials report that 34 individuals remain unaccounted for.

Cebu City Council member Joel Garganera described the scene as “very difficult” due to the weight of heavy materials buried under layers of unstable trash. He noted that most of the buried victims were likely in staff houses located inside the facility when the collapse occurred.

Garganera raised alarm over the “alarming” height of the trash pile, adding that drivers had long complained about the steep and dangerous road leading to the top.

"Every now and then when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city of Cebu ... how much more [dangerous is that] for a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage?" he said.

He also warned that the combination of heavy rainfall and water-absorbing garbage made the site particularly vulnerable to collapse.

The Binaliw landfill, the sole waste processing site for Cebu and nearby areas, reportedly handles 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily. Following the Cebu landfill collapse, calls and emails to Prime Integrated Waste Solutions have so far gone unanswered.

Officials have called the situation a “double whammy” for the city, given the facility’s critical role in local waste management.