At least one person has died and 27 others are missing after a massive mound of garbage collapsed at a waste segregation facility in the Philippines, leading to a large-scale rescue operation, police said on Friday. The tragic incident took place on Thursday afternoon in the village of Binaliw in Cebu City, one of the country’s major urban centres.

According to the police, a huge heap of garbage and debris suddenly gave way at the landfill site, burying several workers and people who were in the area at the time. The collapse caused an avalanche of waste, trapping dozens under tonnes of garbage. Emergency services rushed to the spot soon after the incident was reported.

Police, firefighters, and disaster-mitigation personnel worked through the night to rescue those trapped under the debris. Authorities managed to retrieve eight people, including workers at the facility, from the collapsed garbage mound. However, one of the rescued victims, a female landfill worker, later died while being transported to a hospital, regional police director Brigadier General Roderick Maranan told The Associated Press.

Search and rescue operations are still ongoing as officials try to locate at least 27 people who are believed to be buried under the massive pile of waste. Heavy machinery and manual digging are being used carefully to avoid further collapse, while rescue teams face challenges due to unstable garbage heaps and the risk of toxic fumes from decomposing waste.

Local authorities have cordoned off the area and are monitoring the situation closely. The incident has raised serious concerns about safety conditions at landfill and waste segregation facilities, especially in densely populated areas. Officials said an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the collapse and to assess whether safety regulations were followed.