Toll rises after Philippines trash site collapse

Hard hat-wearing rescue workers and backhoes dug through rubble in search of survivors on Saturday in the shadow of a mountain of garbage that buried dozens of landfill employees in the central Philippines, killing at least six.

About 50 sanitation workers were buried when refuse toppled onto them Thursday from what a city councillor estimated was a height of 20 storeys at the Binaliw Landfill, a privately operated facility in Cebu City.

Rescuers were now facing the danger of further collapse as they navigated the still-shifting wreckage, Cebu rescuer Jo Reyes told AFP on Saturday.

"Operations are ongoing as of the moment. It is continuous. (But) from time to time, the landfill is moving, and that will temporarily stop the operation," she said.

Cebu City councillor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the city's disaster council, told AFP another two bodies had been uncovered Saturday by crews working in 24-hour shifts.

The discovery brings the death toll to six, while 32 people remain missing.

"We found another two bodies, but we cannot retrieve the bodies because of the heavy metal beam that fell on them, so we are trying to cut the metal," he said.

To assist in the rescue operation, 20 trucks equipped with hydraulic cranes and specialised cutting attachments were being sent to help rescuers forced to crawl to reach areas blocked by debris.

"Our rescuers are struggling because the metal beams are big," he said. "With (the trucks), the metal can be lifted and our rescuers can navigate the site more efficiently.

"We are just hoping that we can get someone alive ... We are racing against time, that's why our deployment is 24/7."

Twelve employees have so far been pulled alive from the garbage and hospitalised.

Numerous families were on site awaiting word on the fate of their relatives, Joel Garganera, another Cebu City council member, told AFP on Saturday.