Lahar, landslides kill 10

MANILA, Philippines – Seven people, including three French tourists, were killed when they were swept away by lahar from Mt. Pinatubo in Capas, Tarlac, while three boys died yesterday morning when their house was buried by a landslide in Baguio City after heavy rains spawned by typhoon “Kiko” hit Luzon.

Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz, director of the Central Luzon police, confirmed that three French tourists, a Filipino tourist guide, a local stone cutter, a barangay tanod and another resident were killed while six other French tourists and three South Korean hikers were rescued after lahar swept through the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo on the Capas side of the volcano last Thursday afternoon.

De la Cruz identified the three French fatalities as Martine Cholet, Walter Steylian and Thierry Chailot.

He said two of the Filipino victims were identified as tourist guide Orlando Fernando and barangay tanod Fidel Reila, who drowned Thursday night while assisting in the rescue operations for the tourists.

The other still unidentified tourist guide of the French group, remained missing.

Officials earlier identified the victims as Canadians but police later confirmed that they were French.

French Embassy Consul Arnold Rayar told the Associated Press that he spoke with the survivors and they confirmed they were French.

Dela Cruz said the rescued French tourists were treated at the Central Luzon Doctor’s Hospital in Capas and they were identified as Radjon Araga, Beatrice Le Guvader, Dudier Bazin, Philippe Navarre, Philippe Guinebert, and Marie France Fouchard.

He said the Koreans who were not with the French group went hiking to the volcano’s crater when the lahar swamped the mountain trail.

The Koreans who were identified as Han Chung, Xang Hua and Han Sany were stranded but were later recovered by rescue teams.

Officials said nine French tourists and two Filipino guides boarded two four-wheel drive jeeps last Thursday morning and drove through the mountain trail to the Mt. Pinatubo crater.

Lt. Col. Jose Caparas, who led the Army rescue team, said the victims were swept by strong currents from the nearby O’Donnel River that overflowed due to the lahar that was carried downstream by rainwater at the Crow Valley side of Mt. Pinatubo.

Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991 and deposited lahar and volcanic debris around it’s slopes that border Tarlac, Zambales and Pampanga.

Capas Mayor Rey Catacutan said search and rescue teams found the bodies of the four dead Canadians and three Filipino victims at the O’Donnel River.

Caparas said some of the victims were found half-buried in lahar while their four-wheel drive jeeps were not yet recovered.

Lt. Col. Gerardo Zamudio, Air Force spokesman, said the crew of two military helicopters that were dispatched in the area rescued the six French survivors.

He said the tourists earlier registered at the office of the Pinatubo Development Corp. (PDC) in Barangay Sta. Juliana in Capas for their trip to the crate of Mt. Pinatubo early Thursday morning.

Director Ronnie Tiotuico of the Department of Tourism (DOT) office in Central Luzon said that tourists should have been barred from trekking to Mt. Pinatubo after the announcement of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) that typhoon Kiko would affect Luzon.

He said the Pinatubo trekking project, which was initiated by the DOT was transferred in 2005 to the local government of Capas, headed by Mayor Rey Catacutan, and the Philippine Air Force (PAF) unit based at Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz, who chairman of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC), said he would investigate why the tourists were allowed to trek to Mt. Pinatubo despite the incoming typhoon.

“I was earlier told that the mayor (of Capas) insisted that the weather was quite fine when the tourists headed for the mountains,” he said.

Dela Cruz said tourists going to the crater of Mt. Pinatubo are normally allowed if good weather has been experienced in the area for the past two days.

The DOT promoted trekking to Mt. Pinatubo as a tourist attraction several years ago, after tourist guides identified Barangay Sta. Juliana in Capas as the safest route to the crater.

DOT officials developed the barangay as a base camp for tourists and trained local folk, including indigenous Aetas, as tourist guides.

Philstar