The mayor of a southern Philippine town devastated by a powerful earthquake has pleaded for helicopters to transport food to stave off hunger in several landslide-isolated villages.
The 7.8-magnitude offshore earthquake, one of the strongest to hit the Philippine archipelago in half a century, struck on Monday off the coast of the southern province of Sarangani. It has left at least 47 people dead, 688 injured and 31 missing.
More than 45,000 people were still displaced after the earthquake, with around half of them living in emergency shelters. The quake damaged more than 12,600 homes in farming towns and cities. Many were still too traumatised to return home due to aftershocks, provincial officials said.
Sarangani reported 20 dead from the quake, the highest toll from the affected provinces, mostly due to a landslide that buried houses in the coastal town of Glan, according to the government’s Office of Civil Defence, which deals with major disasters.
Glan Mayor Victor James Yap said power has not been restored to his province and 10 of 31 villages in his town of more than 100,000 people remained inaccessible mostly due to landslides. He asked the government to immediately deploy air force helicopters to deliver food and other aid to the stricken areas.
“We need food and water but it’s difficult to transport them to some of our villages which remain isolated,” Yap told DZMM radio network. “Choppers are needed to transport food because people there are already very hungry.”
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