LA LIBERTAD–Rescuers who had been digging for survivors in the landslides that followed Monday’s magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Negros Oriental will using their noses to lead them to bodies.
“The stench (of bodies) is overwhelming,” said Alejandro Somoza, leader of the Negros Oriental Search and Rescue (NORSAR).
Rescue teams from NORSAR, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Army’s 302nd Brigade and local government units have so far dug up one body in sitio Bloke Dos of Barangay Solongon in the town of La Libertad, where 43 more bodies are believed to be under the landslide.
Somoza said they took a one day break last Wednesday to rest and recharge their batteries and get a fresh change of clothes. They returned to La Libertad by Thursday.
To expedite the recovery of the bodies, Somoza said he would ask the local government unit to involve members of the community in the search and recovery efforts.