Caraga flood claims 10

SURIGAO CITY, Philippines – Three miners died when they were buried alive by landslides Wednesday, while another fisherman drowned in Surigao del Norte, raising the death toll to 10, and one injured, while three persons remain missing in the Caraga Region arising from the latest calamity that struck the four provinces and three cities in Region 13.

Surigao del Norte Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) chairman Gov. Sol F. Matugas said that the fatalities in Surigao del Norte floods and landslides rose to seven.

In Agusan del Norte, Butuan City, and Agusan del Sur, the death count also reached three, while three remain missing.



Matugas identified the miners as: Carlito Benocilla, 25; Raymund Bonotan, 25; and a certain Juan Botoy, all miners of Barangay Masgad in Malimono town.

The massive flooding in Mindanao came while the country is still reeling from the effects of the flooding since December last year that left more than 75 people dead and caused damage amounting to P2 billion across the country.

Retired Gen. Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said two of the fatalities identified as 20-year-old Christopher Laraga and 42-year-old Jorge Boholano died of drowning in Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental.

Ramos said Carlito Benocilla and Raymund Bonotan died when they were buried in a landslide in Malimono in Surigao del Norte.

The official said two more people died of drowning in Agusan del Norte identified as Reyam Bahan and Ricarte Ganzan while a child identified as Rocel Antipuesto also died of drowning in Maco, Compostela Valley.

Ramos said a total of 62,302 families or 309,779 persons were affected in 429 villages in Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, and Camiguin in Region 10, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and Dinagat Islands in the Caraga Region, and the province of Sulu.

The evacuees also include those from Southern Leyte, said Ramos.

“As of today (Thursday), a total of 8,633 families or 44,418 persons are housed at 33 evacuation centers,” said Ramos.

source: Manila Bulletin