13 killed, dozens trapped in landslides triggered by Typhoon Yutu in northern Philippines

MANILA - Search and rescue operations were ongoing in northern Philippines after 13 people were killed and dozens trapped in landslides caused by heavy rains from Typhoon Yutu, a government official said on Wednesday.

Eight bodies had been retrieved and six people rescued from the rubble of the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) building that was hit by landslide in Natonin, Mountain Province, during the onslaught of Typhoon Yutu on Tuesday.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said that search and rescue operations were challenging for the team because landslide-hit roads leading to the ground zero were still not accessible to heavy equipment.

"Accessibility is by foot as of the moment. They are still clearing out the road so the heavy equipment for rescue can come in. For now, our equipment is 300 meters away from the site," Villar said.

Some 20 others were still unaccounted for, Villar revealed, adding that most of the trapped were employees of the department's contractors, a project engineer, security guards and evacuees.

Meanwhile, a family of four died in another landslide on Tuesday, after their house was buried by rocks and soil in Batad, Ifugao. Bodies of a father and his three kids aged 8, 10 and 12 were recovered by authorities.

In a separate incident, a 5-year-old girl died after a landslide struck her family's residence in Lubuagan town, Kalinga. The child was declared dead at the Kalinga District Hospital, according to the rescue team.

Typhoon Yutu is the Philippines' 18th tropical cyclone for 2018. The country usually gets an average of 20 tropical cyclones every year.