Mayon terrain slowing down retrieval operations

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Slippery terrain and bad weather on Mayon Volcano are slowing down the teams carrying the remains of the four victims of the Cessna crash in Camalig, Albay.

The teams started bringing down the bodies on Saturday afternoon amid the difficulties caused by the slippery and rocky soil as well as the unpredictable weather.

Camalig Mayor Caloy Baldo, ground commander of the retrieval operations, said bringing the cadavers down the volcano was a struggle for the teams.

“We wanted the bodies brought down on Saturday. But our responders found it difficult because of the bad weather and slippery slopes,” Baldo told journalists yesterday.

He said the incident management team proposed that 20 persons should carry each body as an alternative measure for the retrieval operations.

Cedric Daep, chief of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, said the obstacles prompted the teams to consider other ways of bringing down the bodies to speed up the relay.

“Our responders cannot descend faster while carrying the cadavers by foot because of the bad weather and loose soil on Mayon. We are considering other procedures,” Daep told The STAR yesterday.

He said airlifting the bodies by helicopter is being considered again should the weather improve.

“Our problem with this option is the bad weather,” Daep said.

Should the airlift push through, the bodies still need to be brought to an elevation or spot where the helicopter can land safely, he said.

Veteran Mayon climbers said it usually takes them five to six hours to climb the volcano up to near the crater.

“But because the responders are carrying the cadavers, it would take them 10 to 12 hours to reach the foot of the volcano,” a climber told The STAR.

The climber expressed belief that the cadavers would not be carried all the way down to the foot of Mayon.

“We believe that the cadavers would be picked up by a helicopter at a pre-identified site, at an elevation lower than the crash site. From this spot, the bodies would be brought to an undisclosed destination off the slope of Mayon,” he said.

Bishop Joel Baylon of the Diocese of Legazpi yesterday offered mass in a chapel in Barangay Anoling for safe and successful retrieval operations.