By Ronron
January 27, 2008
Sixteen persons believed to be from Metro Manila were rescued by Air Force personnel on Sunday after being stranded at a mountain in Quezon province since Saturday.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern Luzon command (Solcom) spokesman Maj. Randolph Cabangbang said the 16 are employees of the Pencil Incorporated advertising firm who are first-time trekkers.
Cabangbang said the group, which include a few women, went on hiking at the Mount Santo Cristobal in Dolores, Quezon but suddenly got lost as they were nearing the summit.
He said the group was divided into two at that time.
And because of “exhaustion and injuries” sustained by two of them, they were no longer able to go down the mountain, Cabangbang said.
It was a good thing that one of the trekkers had a contact with an Air Force personnel at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, the headquarters of the Philippine Air Force, whom they contacted for help.
The Air Force received the report at around 9:30 pm Saturday.
But because of poor visibility and strong winds, the Air Force rescue personnel from the 743rd Combat Squadron and the 505th Search and Rescue Group were only able to launch the rescue operations yesterday using Air Force choppers.
Cabangbang said the first batch of trekkers, consisting of 10 individuals, were rescued at around 10 am. Two of them – Eric Sanchez, 36, a resident of Las Pinas City, and Sony Angeles, 30, of Pasay City – were found to be injured.
Their six companions were picked up later at around 1pm at another site several meters away.
Cabangbang said that Sanchez and Angeles were airlifted to the Camp Nakar Station Hospital at the AFP Solcom headquarters in Lucena City, Quezon for medical treatment. He said Sanchez’ arm and Angeles’ leg were fractured after both allegedly fell on a shallow ravine.
The rest, on the other hand, were just escorted by PAF personnel on the way down the mountain./DMS
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