'Quiel' landslide kills 1, injures 1 in Mt. Province

At least one person was killed while another was injured in a landslide in Mountain Province at the height of Typhoon "Quiel" (Nalgae), the Office of the Civil Defense in Cordillera said Saturday evening. OCD-Cordillera head Olive Luces cited initial information indicating the incident occurred along Halsema Highway. "This morning nagkaroon ng landslide sa Halsema Highway. Nagkaroon tayo ng one dead and one injured," she said in an interview on dzBB radio. She did not give further details but a report by radio dzBB's Manny Vargas cited data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showing the incident occurred in the Mountain Province section of the Halsema Highway. A separate report on dzXL radio identified the fatality as Sonny Marcos, and the injured as Melody Gomez. Both are residents of Dugyas in Mountain Province. Quiel passed through Northern Luzon Saturday after making landfall in Isabela. It enhanced the southwest monsoon, bring rains to areas not under any storm signals. Luces also said that while rain fell on parts of the Cordillera, the major entry points to Baguio City remained passable as of 6 p.m. Saturday. "The five major entry-exit points to Baguio City are all passable," she said. 'Pedring' death toll rises to 52 Meanwhile, the death toll from typhoon "Pedring" (Nesat) rose to 52 as of Saturday evening, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. At least 63 were injured while 30 were missing. In its 6 p.m. update, the NDRRMC also said the damage to property breached the P6-billion mark The damage to property included P1.035 billion in infrastructure and P5.44 billion in agriculture. Among the damaged infrastructure were the National Center for Mental Health (damaged roof) and Calumpit and Hagonoy District Hospitals in Bulacan (flooded). The NDRRMC said "Pedring" has so far affected 503,915 families or 2,367,161 people in 2,873 villages in 279 towns and 40 cities in 34 provinces. Of these, 37,169 families or 170,279 people are sheltered in 490 evacuation centers. Some 65 bridge and road sections were impassable, including one in Ilocos, 18 in Cagayan Valley, 22 in Central Luzon, three in Southern Luzon, two in Metro Manila, and 17 in Cordillera. — ELR, GMA News