By Alexander Lopez
BUTUAN CITY – Search teams have recovered two more bodies at the landslide site in Sitio Tagbulakan, Barangay Mahayahay, San Luis, Agusan del Sur, bringing the total number of recovered remains to five.
Only one person of the six initially reported missing remains unaccounted for, San Luis Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) chief Sadat Rivera said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
The remains of Helen Abunda, 62, were recovered at around 11:30 a.m. The second body, identified as Daniel Cinco, a 24-year-old truck helper, was retrieved at 2:30 p.m.
The victims of the Sept. 14 landslide also include Helen’s husband, Jerry Abunda, 47, and their grandson Jhon Paul Abunda, 3; and Junard Gonzales, 24, the truck driver.
Rivera said search and retrieval operations will continue for the last missing individual, Elvin Mantipal, a motorcycle driver who stopped by to help clear a road before the landslide.
“Our operations are done with caution, especially when it rains,” Rivera said, adding that a geologist who visited the site confirmed the slopes are still unstable.
He also acknowledged the support of various search and rescue teams from the Philippine Army, the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices in Esperanza and Talacogon, and the provincial search and rescue team.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Caraga Region (DSWD-13) has already provided immediate aid to the victims’ families. The assistance includes five boxes of family food packs each, along with hygiene, family, kitchen and sleeping kits. (PNA)
