At least 10 Christian worshippers, including five children, were killed as they were praying after a landslide buried the house where they gathered in southern Philippines.
Those inside were holding Christian prayer sheets when the natural disaster struck on Friday following heavy rain, according to provincial officials.
A search is underway to recover more bodies after the landslide in the remote mountain village in the gold-mining town of Monkayo in Davao de Oro province.
People living near the village have been ordered to evacuate due to fears of more landslides and mudslides due to intermittent downpours.
Ednar Dayanghirang, the regional chief of the government’s office of civil defence, has said that two others were injured and at least one more remained unaccounted for.
Three more bodies were found on Friday after the search was paused mid-afternoon on Thursday due to the risk of another landslide.
“They were praying in the house when the landslide hit… it's sad but it’s the reality on the ground,” Mr Dayanghirang added.
Days of heavy rain also flooded low-lying villages and displaced more than 36,000 people in Davao de Oro and three other provinces, the office of civil defence said. The weather began to clear on Friday in some areas making the search easier.
The rain was sparked by what local forecasters call a shear line, a point where warm and cold air meet. At least 20 storms and typhoons lash the Philippine archipelago each year, especially during the rainy season that starts in June.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest to hit on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than five million in the central Philippines.
