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| Four bodies, including that of two minors, are recovered on Friday from the site of a landslide at Sitio Bangel in Barangay Poblacion, Luba, Abra. The victims were reportedly traveling together in an improvised tricycle when the earthquake struck. —Photo from the Luba municipal disaster management office. (Photo from Inquirer) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] BAGUIO CITY: Government workers and emergency responders struggled to bring aid to at least five towns and 13 villages in Abra and Kalinga provinces that were cut off from the rest of the country by the magnitude 7 earthquake in northern Luzon on Wednesday. The death toll continued to rise on Friday afternoon with the discovery of four bodies buried in a landslide in Luba town in Abra. Initially reported missing, the victims were found in the rubble along Kayaddakad Road, authorities said,PH Inquirer reported.
Based on the official tally of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), as of Friday evening, the quake has claimed 10 lives with more than 130 others injured. Two days after the temblor, villagers were still camping out in parks and open spaces in some areas, pleading for food and temporary shelter, and enduring aftershocks since the quake struck the Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Ilocos regions. Some road sections leading to the remote Abra towns of Boliney, Bucloc, Daguioman, Lacub and Malibcong were damaged and communication lines in these places were still down, according to the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO).
Also isolated from the rest of the province were the far-flung villages of Tabacda in Tubo town; Poblacion and Sabnangan in Luba; Bollilising, Tuquib, Callao and Tamac in Villiaviciosa; and Ud-udiao in Sallapadan.
