13 killed in Philippines landslides

13 killed in Philippines landslides

MANILA (Reuter): Landslides buried 13 people alive and 20 others were reported missing and believed dead after they were swept away by flash floods, Philippine disaster officials said yesterday.

Eight people were injured, including seven whose houses where buried by mud and debris that tumbled down mountainsides on Thursday in Pandan and Catanduanes, off Luzon island, 400 km (250 miles) east of Manila, the Office of Civil Defense said.

Thirteen people were killed in that landslide, it said.

In Iligan city on Mindanao island, 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Manila, 20 people were reported missing after flood waters up to five feet high (1.5 meters) swept several houses in eight villages, police said.

Among the missing were three children, aged four to seven, Iligan police chief Colonel Julmunier Jubail said. The children's mother was also injured.

Jubail said 286 families lost their homes in Iligan.