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| Photo courtesy of Cebu Daily News Inquirer |
Davao City - Residents of sitios Bagong Silang and Kapatagan
of Baranggay Luayon have been trapped for five days after the magnitude of 6.6 earthquake hit the area.
Villagers consisting of four children and the rest were men
and women who were trapped since the October 29 earthquake in Mindanao.
Despite the risk of massive landslides, Philippine Army soldiers
hiked on Sunday for more than five
hours to find and rescue at least 21
villagers who had been trapped for five days in the mountainous
Barangay Luayon
in Makilala, North Cotabato.
The landslides closed off Luayon and several other barangays
in Makilala where Emergency Response
Company (ERC) troopers, along with elements of the 39th Infantry
Battalion, started to hike on Saturday, November 2, to the mountainous village
and can only be accessed by trekking.
According to Pfc. Jacil Joe Tupa, of the Army’s10th Infantry
Division’s ERC, said that the residents were unable to evacuate to safer
grounds due to massive landslides triggered by the strong quake and aftershocks
that blocked the roads.
The 14-man team of Army responders brought along with them
some livestock and motorcycles. 21 villagers walked with the Army responders
where the 14 other villagers were airlifted before noon to the Incident Command
Team headquarters in Amas Capitol Compound in Kidapawan City.
Trapped villagers were only discovered trapped last November
1 through their fellow villagers who were able to evacuate on October 29,
according to Acting Vice Governor Shirlyn Macasarte-Villanueva, who joined the
Army rescue team.
Villanueva and the rescuers boarede two Bell UH-1, Philippine
Air Force helicopters of the 505th Search and Rescue Group and the Bell 412
helicopter, were also used to transport VIPs, including President Duterte. Bureau
of Fire Protection (BFP) personnel also joined the rescue team.
“We admit, we were a
bit nervous because we know that it is a landslide-prone area and some cracks
might cave in anytime,” Tupa said in the local dialect.
It was already dark
when the rescue team arrived at the mountainous barangay, prompting them to
spend the night with the trapped residents, Tupa added.
Despite admitting that the terrain was quite difficult, they
were able to locate the villagers by just following the road leading to the
village, Tupa explained.
While the soldiers were confident that the pilots are
skilled enough to find the landing zone located just 600 meters away from the
houses of the villagers, the team were also ready to escort all the villagers
to safer grounds by foot had the helicopters failed to land.
“If there was no landing zone, we have to take a hike but
the residents will be forced to leave some of their heavy belongings,”Tupa
said.
Despite cracks everywhere, Tupa admired the skills of the
Philippine Air Force pilots for being able to land on top of ridge.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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