A mountain of rubbish collapsed at a landfill in the central Philippines on Thursday, killing a 22-year-old woman and leaving 38 people missing, athorities said.

Rescuers pulled 12 injured sanitation workers from debris at the Binaliw Landfill in Cebu City, who were later hospitalised.

Many of the victims are believed to be workers at the landfill. The cause of the collapse is still unclear.

Some 300 people from various government agencies and civilian groups have been deployed to the privately-owned landfill. Several excavators, ambulances and fire trucks are also seen on site.

Operators had been cutting into the mountain, mining the soil, and then piling garbage to form another mountain of waste, Garganera told local newspaper The Freeman.