AFP: US air assets to assist in Mindanao landslide relief ops

In this handout photo from the Eastern Mindanao Command, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) taken on February 7, 2024 and received on February 8, 2024, shows responders conduct search and rescue operations in Maco, Davao de Oro. At least 11 people were injured when a rain-induced landslide buried two buses picking up workers from a gold mine in the southern Philippines, officials said. Rescuers used their bare hands and shovels to dig through mud on February 8 in a desperate search for survivors of a landslide in the Philippines as the death toll rose to 10, officials said. (Photo by Handout / Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Eastern Mindanao Command / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — Two United States Marine Corps KC-130J Hercules aircraft are slated to assist the national government in transporting relief supplies to communities and families displaced by a landslide in Maco, Davao de Oro last February 6, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

The AFP disclosed in a statement on Monday that the two aircraft are currently on standby at Villamor Air Base while the processing, weighing, and loading of supplies are ongoing and that four deliveries per day are  scheduled.

“The AFP and the US Armed Forces are continuously working hand-in-hand to provide efficient support to the troops during the entirety of the said operations,” the military said. 

 Based on the provincial government of Davao de Oro’s report,  the landslide death toll climbed to 54 on Sunday night. 

In a Facebook post, the provincial government said the number of injured likewise rose from 31 to 34, while 63 othjers remain missing.