MANILA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A landslide hit a mining village in Davao de Oro province in southern Philippines on Thursday, killing at least seven people and leaving four others missing, a regional official said.
Ednar Dayanghirang, the regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said in a radio interview that five children and two adults were dead, while two others, including a one-year-old child, were critically injured in the landslide that buried a house in a village known for its rich gold ore deposit.
"Rescuers retrieved the bodies of the dead. There are still people missing," Dayanghirang said.
He said heavy downpours continued and flooding threatened many parts of the region. The continued rainfall forced authorities to halt the search and rescue operations as they feared that the soppy soil might collapse.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported that nearly 45,000 families, or more than 187,000 people, have been affected by flooding and landslides due to heavy rains in four provinces in Davao region on Mindanao island. ■