Filipino soldiers check the body of the Filipino tourist guide killed after a sudden explosion of rocks and ash at the slope of Mayon volcano in the town of Malilipot, Albay, in Bicol region, yesterday.
LEGAZPI CITY: Search and recovery teams retrieved the bodies of four European tourists and their Filipino guide killed in the Mayon volcano explosion on Wednesday, but treacherous terrain and erratic weather hampered efforts to bring the bodies to a safe clearing.
“As of this time, our teams are still about two hours’ walk away from Camp 1. They could not go faster than careful walk due to the very rugged and slippery terrain,” Raffy Alejandro, Bicol Director of the Office of Civil Defence said.
Thirty-five-year-old Thai national Boonchai Jattupornong, earlier reported missing, was found alive but weakened by injuries.
Camp 1 is situated at 1,500 metres of the volcano. Mayon is 2,464-metre high.
The recovery team of 60 army soldiers, found the remains of the trekkers at the 1,800 metre level.
The explosion, called phreatic by scientists, triggered an avalanche of hot boulders that buried German tourists Joanne Edosa, Roland Pietieze and Furian Stelter, and Spaniard Farah Frances who lived in Germany.
Also killed was Filipino guide Jerome Berin.
A phreatic explosion occurs when a volcano’s molten rock comes in contact with water. There was heavy rain near the volcano summit on the night before the explosion.
Alejandro said it was unsafe for helicopters to land at Camp 2, which has uneven and unstable terrain.
“So we need to bring the bodies down to Camp 1 for the helicopter to pick them up,” he said.
Captain Vibar Crisostomo, spokesman for the army’s 901st Brigade, said that rescuers found two female and two male bodies at around 6.22am yesterday at a place called the Rabbit’s Ear, located at about 1,800 metres higg.
He said two of the dead — a male and a female — were in an embrace when found.
“Our rescuers failed to hold back their tears upon seeing the nearly mangled bodies of the victims,” Crisostomo said.
He said it took recovery teams about seven hours to reach the location of the victims.
Crisostomo said it took five men to carry a body down the steep and slippery slopes.
Albay Governor Joey Salceda said he would first ensure that survivors of the tragedy are attended to and the remains of the victims recovered before addressing Malacañang’s demand for explanation.
“We will confront these questions without having to demoralise our 72-man rescue team and so many other people who are risking their lives on the slopes of Mayon,” he said.
“Our entire attention and efforts have been focused on rescuing the injured rather than answer issues being unreasonably raised, posed by Malacañang. If it is President Aquino, he would have texted me first,” he said.
Earlier, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the President was seeking an explanation on the tragedy.
“That’s what the President ordered to ask — the parameters of the danger zone. And as far as our information has yielded, even if the local government restricts tourist activities there, they have to seek permission because there are guides that just go up without asking permission,” Valte said on Tuesday..
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
