Army soldiers used picks, shovels and chainsaws in a race against time to rescue at least 71 people buried in landslides that covered 80 houses in two barangays (villages) in Guihulngan City and the adjacent La Libertad town, both in Negros Oriental.
President Benigno Aquino III will visit Dumaguete City, one of the areas affected by the temblor, on Wednesday, his 52nd birthday, Malacañang announced.
“(The President) will inspect damaged areas and meet with our countrymen affected by the calamity, as well as with the government workers who are providing much needed relief operations on the ground,” his spokesperson, Edwin Lacierda, said.
The number of victims of Monday’s 6.9-magnitude earthquake could still go up as some 90 houses were buried in Barangay Solinggon in La Libertad and in Sitio (sub-village) Moog, Barangay Planas in Guihulngan City. Eighty others were injured.
At least 45 people were confirmed dead—28 in Guihulngan, 10 in La Libertad, three in Jimalalud town, two in Tayasan town and two in Bindoy town, officials said.
In Moog, 29 houses were buried 6 meters (20 feet) deep when a portion of the mountain fell over the mountainside neighborhood during the temblor.
Available tools
More than 70 soldiers belonging to the 11th Infantry Battalion had to stop digging the soft ground during aftershocks for fear of another landslide.
“But they try to dig and look for survivors,” said Colonel Francisco Patrimonio, commanding officer of the Army’s 302nd Infantry Brigade.
“It is not that we are not conducting operations. We are just waiting for a safer time to continue the retrieval operations,” Patrimonio said.
He said the rescuers needed graders and backhoes to hasten their mission. But he added that bringing the equipment to the site would be difficult with several bridges damaged or which had collapsed from the earthquake.
“What we have on hand we are using. We are using available tool, like shovels, picks and chainsaws,” Patrimonio said.
Twenty-one people were killed in Planas, five in Barangay Poblacion, and one each in Barangay Magsaysay and St. Francis Academy, all in Guihulngan. Eighty others suffered injuries and were brought to Guihulngan District Hospital.
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