MANILA: A mudslide killed at least nine people in the southern Philippines and rescue workers were scrambling to find another 14 still missing after monsoon rains loosened soil and buried about 45 makeshift houses near a mining town.

Officials said on Sunday dozens of soldiers, police officers, miners and volunteers continued to dig under the debris of destroyed homes after the landslide hit Compostela Valley on Mindanao island on Saturday.

A second mudslide in the same area early on Sunday covered the only mountain road leading to the stricken village. Around 1,500 people were forced to evacuate in case a third landslide struck.

“Our people are battling against weather and time,” said Major Armand Rico.

“We’re sending two helicopters to help in evacuating victims to hospitals,” he said, adding soldiers from an army battalion had been ordered to help in the rescue efforts.

Disaster officials had ordered residents to leave the shanty towns near the area due to the threat of another landslide and flooding in low-lying areas. “We’re forcing all the people in the village to move to as safer place.

That place would be declared a no man’s land,” Voltaire Rimando, the town mayor told reporter after meeting with disaster officials.