One dead, 38 missing after Philippine dump site collapse

Rescue workers searched on Friday (January 9, 2026) for dozens of people feared buried under a mountain of garbage that collapsed at a landfill in the central Philippines, killing at least one.

Dozens of sanitation workers were buried when the towering pile of refuse toppled onto them on Thursday (January 8) at Binaliw Landfill, a privately operated facility in Cebu City.

“It must be four storeys high,” Jason Morata, a city assistant public information officer, said of the trash mountain.

At least 12 employees were pulled alive from the garbage and hospitalised, according to a statement on the official Facebook page of city mayor Nestor Archival.

Rescue workers were “fully engaged in search and retrieval efforts to locate the remaining missing persons”, he said.

Aerial photos released by police showed what appeared to be multiple structures crushed under the weight of the garbage.

City information officer Mr. Morata said the buildings had housed “company offices, HR, admin, maintenance staff” for a private firm that ran the site.

“We’re considering several factors. If you remember, Cebu was struck by two typhoons in the latter part of 2025… and also an earthquake,” said Mr. Morata.

He added information was emerging at a trickle, as there was “no signal” at the dump site.

The landfill “processes 1,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily”, according to the website of operator Prime Integrated Waste Solutions.

Calls to the company went unanswered on Friday (January 9).

“We don’t know what caused the collapse. It wasn’t raining at all,” said Marge Parcotello, a civilian staff member of the police department in Consolacion, a town that shares a common boundary with the dump site.

“Many of the victims are from Consolacion,” she said.

More than 200 people were killed in July 2000 when an avalanche of garbage consumed a Manila shanty town populated by several thousand scavengers.

The tragedy, the worst of its kind in Philippine history, prompted public outrage over open landfills. Legislation aimed at better regulation of waste management would pass months later.