The Masara community starts to bury the victims of a landslide that struck on Feb. 6, 2024.  Davao de Oro government  MANILA — The death toll in the massive landslide that hit the gold-mining community of Barangay Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro rose to 92 on Thursday evening. 

Responders were still searching for 36 individuals who remained missing over a week since the Feb. 6 landslide struck the mountainous village.

An inter-faith prayer rally was held at the landslide's ground zero, where Catholic priests, Mansaka and Kagan leaders, and indigenous people representatives offered their prayers.

The community on Wednesday started burying some of the landslide victims at the Mawab Public Cemetery.

Seventeen unidentified bodies were also temporarily buried at Maco Public Cemetery, based on the recommendation of the municipal health office for health and sanitation purposes. 

The Masara community starts to bury the victims of a landslide that struck on Feb. 6, 2024.  Davao de Oro government  

The landslide buried three buses and a jeepney waiting for employees of a gold mining firm and 55 nearby houses, leaving 32 other people injured.

Authorities have vowed to continue the search until all those missing are recovered.

Landslides are a frequent hazard across much of the archipelago nation due to the mountainous terrain, heavy rainfall and widespread deforestation from mining, slash-and-burn farming and illegal logging.

Rain has pounded parts of Mindanao on and off for weeks, triggering dozens of landslides and floods that have forced tens of thousands of people into emergency shelters.

Massive earthquakes have also destabilized the region in recent months. 

— With reports from Hernel Tocmo and Agence France-Presse