5 dead, 4 missing in landslides in Philippines

At least five people were killed and four went missing in two landslides triggered by days of monsoon rains in two provinces in the Philippines, officials said on Saturday.

Landslides caused by tropical depression-triggered heavy rain buried alive three people in Legazpi, a city in Albay province south of Manila.

Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal said a three-year-old boy, a 20-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man were killed when their house in San Francisco village was hit by a landslide early Saturday morning.

The three reportedly lived in a house with 10 others when the landslide occurred. The other 10 people survived, Rosal said.

Two people also died in another landslide in nearby Sorsogon City in Sorsogon province also on Saturday.

Authorities blamed the landslide on heavy downpours that apparently loosened the soil.

Many parts of Albay province were flooded, Janet Ramos, a resident of Daraga town in Albay told Xinhua.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geographical and Astronomical Services Administration earlier warned that heavy rains brought by tropical depression may pour over the northern and central Philippines.

The tropical depression has weakened into a low-pressure area after making landfall in Eastern Samar in the central Philippines on Saturday.

Large swathes of Northern Samar, Albay and Sorsogon provinces were flooded, according to the news reports.