GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines: Rescuers searched the rubble on Tuesday (Jun 9) of a collapsed building in the southern Philippine city of General Santos, the worst hit by a powerful earthquake that has killed at least 37 people and injured hundreds, to reach two people still believed to be trapped inside.Regional fire officer Edgar Tanawan, who is leading the operation, told Reuters that two people had been pulled out alive from the commercial building, housing a grocery store and other businesses, but a third was found dead. Scanners have so far detected no signs of life from the remaining two, he added."It’s difficult to accept, as a mother, that my son is still trapped there," Dioslinda Deluvio said, distraught as she waited outside the building for news of her son. "I don’t know … it's very hard to accept.
"My only call is to have him retrieved today so we can be at peace," the 65-year-old mother added.
A woman walking past a collapsed building a day after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, in Calumpang, General Santos, the southern Philippines, on Jun 9, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Noel Celis)
The 7.8-magnitude quake, which triggered tsunami warnings across several countries, struck early on Monday morning about 20km off the coast of Sarangani province, with tremors felt strongly across Mindanao and as far as the city of Manado, 420km away on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.Officials said they hoped the death toll would not rise further as search-and-rescue operations continued, with more than 400 people injured and four still missing.Scenes of devastation were visible in parts of General Santos, which is home to more than 700,000 people and now under a state of calamity, with several buildings collapsed and debris strewn across streets beneath a tangle of toppled power lines and utility posts.
