Landfill Collapse in Philippines Leaves Two Dead and Dozens Missing

A garbage mound outside Cebu City in the central Philippines collapsed on Thursday. Rescuers are searching for 36 missing people, including some trapped under the debris.The huge mound of garbage at a waste facility in Binaliw in the Philippines on Friday, the day after it collapsed.Credit...Jacqueline Hernandez/Associated PressJan. 9, 2026, 8:53 a.m. ETA landfill in the central Philippines collapsed on Thursday, killing at least two people and injuring a dozen others, according to local officials.Rescue workers were searching for 36 other people who were missing, many of whom remained trapped under the debris.The disaster struck after 4 p.m. on Thursday at a private landfill in Binaliw, a mountainous area on the outskirts of Cebu City in the central Philippines. Photos and videos of the area showed a landslide of trash on top of some structures. Nestor Archival, the major of Cebu City, said that it had involved 110 employees at the landfill.A 22-year-old woman died and the body of a 25-year-old was recovered on Friday, Mr. Archival said in social media posts. Three dozen people remained missing on Friday, all of them workers at the facility, he said. He told reporters at the scene that rescuers had been able to reach some trapped survivors.The city had deployed 300 people to help with the rescue and response, according the main national disaster management center in the Philippines, and areas had been set up for families waiting for news of missing relatives.“They said those trapped are calling for help, so there is a possibility that my brother is still there,” Michelle Lumapas, whose brother works in the landfill’s engineering department, said in an interview with ABS-CBN, a Philippine news outlet. ImagePeople waiting for updates at the site of the collapsed facility.Credit...Jacqueline Hernandez/Associated PressLocal officials said they were investigating the cause of the collapse. Mr. Archival told reporters on Friday that an initial investigation had suggested a link to a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that shook Cebu Province in September.A large volume of rain, he said, had seeped into the underground of landfill and weakened its foundation.The landfill, operated by Prime Waste Solutions Cebu, was responsible for segregating and storing waste and processed some 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste a day, according to its website. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement on Thursday cited by local news media, Prime Waste Solutions Cebu said it was working with government agencies to support those affected. Operations at the facility had been suspended, it said.In 2000, more than 200 people were killed when a mountain of garbage in Payatas, a dumpsite in Manila, collapsed during monsoon rains.Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.SKIP