MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers detected signs of life in an avalanche of garbage that killed at least four workers and left more than 30 others missing Thursday in a central Philippines landfill and plan to intensify search efforts, an official said Saturday.
Twelve workers have been rescued with injuries from the huge mound of garbage that collapsed among the low-slung buildings of a waste management facility in the village of Binaliw in Cebu City, authorities said.
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Family members and relatives wait as rescuers continue operations on a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
Rescuers continue search operations at a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
Family members and relatives wait as rescuers continue operations on a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
A huge mound of garbage that collapsed Thursday afternoon at a waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines is seen on Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
Rescuers continue operations on a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
Dozens of rescuers including police, firefighters and disaster-response personnel have raced against time to find more survivors in dangerous conditions in the rubble of twisted tin roofs, iron bars and combustible heaps of garbage and debris.
“Authorities confirmed the presence of detected signs of life in specific areas, requiring continued careful excavation and the deployment of a more advanced 50-ton crane, which is enroute with police escort,” Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival said in a statement.
“Safety of responders remains paramount due to hazards such as unstable debris and acetylene risks, prompting adjustments to the security perimeter and controlled access,” Archival said.
The four dead, including an engineer and a female office worker, were all employees of the landfill and waste management facility with a staff of 110, according to the mayor and police.
The initial list of victims on Friday included two dead and 36 missing, which increased Saturday to four dead, according to Archival, who did not provide an updated nunber of people missing.
The cause of the collapse of the mountain of garbage remains unclear, but a survivor told The Associated Press on Friday that it happened in an instant without any warning despite fairly good weather at the time.
Jaylord Antigua, a 31-year-old office worker at the landfill, said the wall of garbage cascaded down and destroyed the administrative office he was in. He extricated himself with bruises on his face and arms by crawling in darkness in the rubble and debris.
“I saw a light and crawled toward it in a hurry, because I feared there will be more landslides,” Antigua said. “It was traumatic. I feared that it was my end, so this is my second life.”
It is unclear how the accident would affect garbage disposal in the landfill in Cebu, a bustling port city of nearly a million people that serves as a regional hub for trade, commerce and tourism.
Preparations “are also underway to manage the looming garbage collection issue," Archival said in his statement without further details.
Such landfills and open dumpsites have long been a source of safety and health concerns throughout the Philippines, especially in areas close to poor communities where many residents scavenge for junk and leftover food in the garbage heaps.
In July 2000, a huge garbage mound in a shantytown in suburban Quezon City, part of metropolitan Manila, collapsed and ignited a fire after days of stormy weather.
The disaster left more than 200 people dead and many more missing, damaged scores of shanties and prompted a law requiring the closure of illegal dump sites nationwide, as well as improved and more sustainable waste management by authorities.
Family members and relatives wait as rescuers continue operations on a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
Rescuers continue search operations at a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
Family members and relatives wait as rescuers continue operations on a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
A huge mound of garbage that collapsed Thursday afternoon at a waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines is seen on Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
Rescuers continue operations on a collapsed waste segregation facility in Binaliw, Cebu city, central Philippines on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Hernandez)
The National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday said it is gathering information about the evacuation of a Frontier Airlines plane after it hit and killed a person on the runway at Denver International Airport during takeoff.
The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday,” according to a post on the airport’s official X account.
Passengers were evacuated via slides, and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. An airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to hospitals.
Some people on board expressed concern about the evacuation, including being stuck in the plane for several minutes as smoke filled the cabin and left on the tarmac in the cold once they were out. Video also showed some passengers coming down the slide with what looked to be their carry-on bags.
“We are gathering information about the emergency evacuation to determine if it meets criteria for a safety investigation,” NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick said early Sunday, adding that the agency might have more details in a few hours.
Frontier Airlines didn’t respond early Sunday to a request for information about the evacuation.
A spokesman for the Denver Police Departmet said Sunday the investigation into the incident was ongoing and that the identification of the person on the runway will be confirmed and released by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.
The person was hit two minutes after jumping the fence and crossing the runway. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.
“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”
The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the collision.
The airline said the plane was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members.
“We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities,” the airline said.
Passengers said panic took hold on the flight after an engine caught fire and the cabin began filling with smoke.
“Honestly, I thought I was going to die,” passenger Mohamed Hassan told Colorado’s 9NEWS.
“A lot of people next to me were screaming and crying. I just closed my eyes,” he said. "At that time, you’re not really thinking of anything, you know? Because we were just about to take off and I heard that boom, so I wasn’t sure what happened. I just thought something really, really bad happened.”
Passenger Nikil Thalanki told local media outlets that he felt “this jerk” as the plane was about to take off, adding that it felt like the wheels had left the ground but then came back down.
“There was fire on the engine. There was lots of sparks that are happening. Immediately came to a stop,” Thalanki said. "As soon as we saw the sparks on the flight, smoke filled the cabin completely. It was super hard to breathe.”
Kimberly Randle said passengers were panicking and desperate to get off the aircraft.
“In a few minutes, they finally opened the door. People were running to get out of the plane," he said. "It was chaos everywhere.”
The NTSB has for years expressed concerned about evacuations, especially passengers leaving with their carry-ons. In an April report on the evacuation aboard a United Airlines flight at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the NTSB described a troubling scene.
Passengers were evacuated via slides and stairs last year from the jetliner after an engine problem during takeoff caused smoke and fire on the right wing.
Despite the flight attendant telling passengers to remain seated, several began shouting, “fire on the engine, let me get out!” That trigged “widespread panic" and prompted many passengers to get up and start retrieving their belongings. Some climbed over seats and began obstructing the aisle.
Three large men insisted the evacuation occur, pushing past a flight attendant and going down a slide before it had fully deployed – causing it to deflate and become unusable.
“Cabin crew training emphasizes assertive command presence and passenger control during evacuations; however, this event demonstrates how rapidly escalating passenger behavior can affect evacuation dynamics even in the absence of confirmed fire or smoke conditions,” according to the report.
The incident in Denver came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident or the name of the employee.
“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. “We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”
AP reporter John Raby contributed from Charleston, West Virginia.
Frontier Airlines jetliner number n646fr sits outside the airlines technical operations center with other jetliners in for service north of Denver International Airport Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Frontier Airlines jetliner number n646fr sits outside the airlines technical operations center with other jetliners in for service north of Denver International Airport Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Frontier Airlines jetliner number n646fr sits outside the airlines technical operations center with other jetliners in for service north of Denver International Airport Saturday, May 9, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
