Landslide killed at least 29 people near a limestone quarry on Cebu island in Philippine.

The Philippines has suspended all mining operations in seven regions of the country after a new landslide killed at least 29 people near a limestone quarry on Cebu island.

Rescue operations resumed on Friday after a hillside collapsed and surged down on about 24 houses in two rural villages in Naga city on Thursday.

DPA news agency quoted an official from the provincial disaster risk reduction office as saying as many as 67 people were still believed buried by the debris.

Police said more than 1,200 people had been evacuated, most of them forcibly, from the area on Thursday night, according to The Associated Press.

Relatives of those buried pleaded for more backhoes to be brought in as many rescue workers were using shovels to dig.

“They are still under the rubble, they are still there. They are covered in shallow earth, we need a backhoe,” resident Nimrod Parba, who had 13 relatives entombed by the landslide, was quoted as saying.

A spokesman for the Naga city government said many of the rescuers were digging manually because it is dangerous to use heavy equipment.

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