At least 25 people have been killed and about 150 others are missing in the Philippines after a landslide struck a remote mountain community on Mindanao island.
The landslip hit an area that was declared off-limits last year due to the ever-present danger of landslides, but gold prospectors in search of instant riches had ignored the warning, local officials said.
Rescuers using only spades and other hand tools have pulled 25 bodies and 15 injured residents from the rubble after the landslide in Napnapan near Pantukan town, civil defence chief Benito Ramos said.
"A military unit is in the area but they are basically digging with their hands," he said.
Local military official Colonel Lyndon Paniza, who is coordinating the rescue from Pantukan, about two hours' drive away, said rescuers fear there could be more fatalities.
"We expect many were killed since the worst-hit was the middle, where there are more than 50 shanties," Col Paniza said.
The landslide buried an area measuring about 7,500sq.m as people slept, Col Paniza added.
Provincial governor Arturo Uy said more than 100 people are believed to be still buried under the collapsed mountainside.
Mr Ramos however said the number of missing is an estimate based on figures from village officials.
The provincial government and local mining firms have been asked to bring heavy equipment up to the village to help local troops speed up the rescue.
The area had been hit by rains unleashed from a storm off Mindanao's southeast coast, the state weather service said.
Pantukan and nearby Monkayo town have drawn thousands of gold prospectors for years.
The largely unregulated mining activities have made the mountainside unstable and caused a series of deadly accidents.
