Rescue workers searched for dozens of people buried under a mountain of trash that collapsed at a landfill in the central Philippines on Friday, killing at least one.
Nearly 50 people were buried Thursday after a massive pile of garbage fell on them at the Binaliw landfill, a privately run facility in Cebu City, officials said.
Landfill workers were among them, but it was unclear whether nearby residents or others were, the Associated Press reported.
“There are signs of life,” Cebu Mayor Nestor Archival told a news conference, adding that the hundreds of rescuers already there would be joined by “another 500” for the search that he expected until at least Sunday.
Cheryl Baldicantos/AFP via Getty Images 
Rescuers were limited in the equipment they could use because any spark threatened to ignite methane gas leaking from the landfill, he said.
Thirty-four people remain missing, Archival says, downgrading the count of 38 previously given on its Facebook page.
At least 12 workers were rescued from the debris and hospitalized.
Jason Morata, the city’s public information officer, told AFP that the mountain of trash “must be four stories tall.”
Aerial photos released by police showed what appeared to be multiple structures crushed under the weight of the debris.
Jacqueline Hernandez / AP 
Morata said the buildings housed “corporate offices, HR, admin, maintenance staff” for the private company that runs the site.
“We are considering several factors. If you remember, Cebu was shocked two typhoons in the latter part of 2025 … and an earthquake too,” he said.
Morata added that the information is being created in the slot because there was no “signal” in the landfill.
The landfill “processes 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily, according to the website of operator Prime Integrated Waste Solutions. It has 110 employees, the AP says.
Calls to the company went unanswered Friday.
“We don’t know what caused the collapse. It wasn’t raining at all,” said Marge Parcotello, a civilian employee of the police department in Consolacion, which borders the landfill.
“Many victims are from Consolacion,” he said.
Safety and health concerns have long surrounded landfills in many cities and towns in the Philippines, especially those near poor communities where residents pile up garbage and leftover food, the AP reported.
In July 2000, more than 200 people died when an avalanche of garbage consumed a slum in Manila populated by several thousand scavengers.
The tragedy, the worst of its kind in Philippine history, sparked public outrage over open dumps. Legislation aimed at better regulating waste management was approved a month later.