The city of Naga in Cebu province was placed under a state of calamity following a landslide that killed more than 50 persons.

The National Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the city was placed under a state of calamity through a resolution it issued last Sept. 21.

The report stated that the state of calamity was declared because of "damages brought by the occurrence of a massive landslide."

Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez, deputy commander of the Army's 3rd Civil Relations Group, said fatalities because of the landslide incident in the city have reached 54.

"Three days after the additional troops from Central Command were deployed for rescue mission as well as the additional rescue volunteers, the total recovered missing persons have increased from 29 last Saturday to 54 as of 1pm today," he said.

Martinez said there were 10 injured and around 40 who remain missing.

He said Captain Dave Anthony Pajel of the 53rd Engineer Brigade, who is leading one rescue team in the affected area, said this was due to a life finder equipment or a thermal detection device from the Army’s 525th Engineer Battalion and K-9 unit, and information from some of the victims' relatives who pinpoints the location of the buried houses.

"Without these people and information guides we might be exhausting all our energies and efforts in locating the victims inside the landslide area," Pajel said.

In its latest report, the NDRRMC recorded a total of 1,316 families or 4,980 persons affected by the landslide. Of the tally, 1,258 families or 4,741 persons were evacuated and served inside five evacuation centers. Robina Asido/DMS