Search teams working a collapsed landfill in the village of Binaliw said Saturday they detected signs of life beneath unstable heaps of garbage, two days after a sudden slide buried workers and low buildings, killing at least four and leaving dozens missing.
Officials said twelve people were pulled out with injuries as crews raced to cut through twisted roofs and compacted waste with excavators and hand tools. The collapse on Thursday, Jan. 8, swept over offices and a warehouse inside the waste management compound, trapping employees with little warning. The city mobilized firefighters, police and disaster-response units while operators brought in heavy equipment to stabilize the site. Authorities cautioned that shifting debris, methane and acetylene canisters were complicating the search. The operator suspended normal work at the facility, and city leaders prepared contingency plans for garbage collection while the rescue continued through the weekend.
Witnesses described a wall of refuse lurching forward and flattening structures within seconds. Survivors said the weather had been calm before the slide. “It was traumatic. I thought it was my end,” one rescued office worker told reporters from a stretcher. Family members gathered outside the cordon through Friday night, straining for updates as cranes and loaders scraped away layers of trash. City officials said monitors picked up possible sounds from pockets under the debris, prompting teams to pause machines and listen as medics readied stretchers. The recovered dead included an engineer and a female office employee, according to local authorities who notified families. Paramedics treated bruises, fractures and breathing difficulties among those pulled out alive.
Responders said the search zone covers several thousand square meters where a four-story mound buckled and drove through corrugated walls. The facility employs about 110 people, and managers were still reconciling shift logs to confirm how many were inside when the slide hit. As of Saturday afternoon, officials said at least four were confirmed dead, a dozen were rescued with injuries and more than 30 remained unaccounted for. Excavation teams rotated in short shifts due to fumes and heat inside the debris. City engineers ordered a 50-ton crane to help peel back heavier sections. “We have to work methodically because the pile moves,” a senior fire officer said at the scene. “Any vibration can close the air spaces we’re trying to reach.”
Landfill collapses have scarred the Philippines before. A 2000 garbage slide at Payatas in Quezon City killed more than 200 people and spurred national waste management reforms. Cebu, a regional hub for trade and tourism, relies on large transfer sites to process thousands of tons of trash each day. Officials said Thursday’s collapse appeared to occur without rain or wind triggers, and they have not identified a cause. Engineers will examine the slope angle, leachate drainage and loading practices once the rescue ends. Residents in nearby barangays reported a rumble and a smell of burning gas as the pile shifted. The operator’s complex includes sorting areas for recyclables, offices and a weigh station, parts of which were buried or damaged.
City leaders said their immediate focus is rescue and accounting. Regulators plan to review permits, engineering records and compliance logs for the facility after emergency operations. Investigators will also look at worker training and emergency procedures, including whether gas detection and evacuation drills were in place. The company said it turned the incident over to insurers and legal counsel and would cooperate with authorities. No penalties or charges had been announced as of Sunday. Officials said any reopening would depend on geotechnical assessments and a safety plan approved by the city and national agencies. A public update is expected early next week when teams brief families and release a revised tally of the missing.
Outside the gate, relatives traded phone numbers and photos, hoping to match names on roll sheets with co-workers who made it out. A man clutching a hard hat said he had spoken to his brother minutes before the slide; the call dropped as alarms sounded. “He told me to tell our mother he loved her,” the man said, before rescue staff led him to a waiting tent. Volunteers handed out water and masks while an ambulance crew cleaned mud from stretchers. Across the site, a backhoe idled while a safety officer raised a fist, signaling silence; workers leaned in to listen for tapping from beneath a crushed roof panel. Moments later, medics jogged a spine board toward the sound.
As dusk fell Saturday, floodlights flickered on over the gray ridge of trash and twisted rebar. Crews said they would keep rotating through the night, balancing speed with safety as they worked around pockets of gas and shifting slopes. The official count remained at four dead, twelve rescued with injuries and more than 30 missing. Authorities said the next update would come Sunday evening with any confirmed rescues or identifications.
Author note: Last updated January 11, 2026.