MANILA, Philippines — After 12 days of struggling with Mayon’s rough terrain and bad weather in the area, emergency responders have retrieved the bodies of three of four victims of the Cessna plane that crashed last month.
Camalig, Albay Mayor Carlos Irwin Baldo Jr. announced early Thursday in a Facebook post that the three bodies have been retrieved and brought to the base of Mayon in Barangay Anoling.
He added that the responders are expected to drop off the last crash victim within the day.
The first body from the crash was dropped off Wednesday night, followed by a second body around an hour past Thursday midnight and another body around two hours later.
Passengers Joel Martin, Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam as well as pilot Capt. Rufino James Crisostomo Jr. were earlier confirmed dead.
During the incident, the Mayon Volcano was under Alert Level 2, when sudden phreatic explosions, rockfall and lahar could be experienced.
Two Australian nationals were among the four who died. They were reported to be "technical consultants" for renewable energy company Energy Development Corp. — Xave Gregorio