BOGO: The death toll from a powerful earthquake in the central Philippines has risen to 72 as officials shift focus to the hundreds injured and thousands left homeless.
Firefighters successfully rescued a woman and her child from the rubble of a collapsed hotel in Bogo city near the quake’s epicentre overnight Wednesday.
The body of another woman was also retrieved from the same site earlier in the day according to AFP journalists on the scene.
National authorities confirmed 294 people were injured and approximately 20,000 residents had fled their homes following the 6.9-magnitude tremor that struck on Tuesday.
Nearly 600 houses were wrecked across northern Cebu island with many residents sleeping on the streets amid hundreds of continuing aftershocks.
Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro issued multiple urgent appeals for help on Thursday requesting safe drinking water, food, clothes, temporary housing, and volunteers to distribute aid.
“Many homes were destroyed and many families are in need of help to recover… They need our help, prayers and support,“ she stated on her official Facebook page.
President Ferdinand Marcos flew to Cebu with senior aides on Thursday to personally inspect the damage and coordinate national relief efforts.
A small village chapel now serves as temporary shelter for 18-year-old Bogo resident Diane Madrigal and fourteen neighbours after their houses were completely destroyed.
“The entire wall (of my house) fell so I really don’t know how and when we can go back again,“ Madrigal told AFP reporters.
Mother-of-four Lucille Ipil joined a 10-metre line of residents waiting for a scheduled fire truck to deliver essential water supplies along a Bogo road.
“The earthquake really ruined our lives. Water is important for everyone. We cannot eat, drink or bathe properly,“ the 43-year-old explained to AFP.
Many areas remain without electricity while dozens of patients sheltered in tents outside the damaged Cebu provincial hospital in Bogo.
Search and rescue operations appeared to be winding down in Bogo early Thursday as rescuers awaited new instructions.
“As of now, all those who were reported missing were already retrieved,“ Cebu fire bureau official Liewellyn Lee Quino confirmed to AFP.
Rescuers conducted final checks at the collapsed hotel hours after retrieving three bodies to ensure no one remained trapped inside.
“The final check is important so that we can assure the community here that no one is forgotten inside these establishments,“ Quino added.
The regional civil defence office estimates more than 110,000 people across 42 communities will require assistance to rebuild homes and restore livelihoods.
Earthquakes occur frequently in the Philippines due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where intense seismic activity is common.
Most tremors are too weak for humans to feel but strong destructive quakes strike randomly without available prediction technology. – AFP