Terrain, weather make retrieval of bodies from Cessna crash on Mayon difficult
MANILA, Philippines — The terrain of Mayon Volcano and the weather in the area are posing a challenge to the retrieval of the bodies of the four passengers onboard a small plane that crashed near the crater, officials said.
Camalig, Albay Mayor Carlos Irwin Baldo said Friday that the retrieval team is finding it difficult to bring the bodies down from Mayon’s peak.
“The area is really difficult because if they lift the body a bit, boulders there would slide down,” Baldo said in Filipino on ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.
Rep. Joel Salceda (Albay) echoed this in a Facebook post where he said the crash site had “unstable ground, soil/rocks erosion, elevation/inclination.”
“[This] dictates that the retrieval operation should apply technical rope rescue such as different anchoring systems, hoisting/lowering techniques, hauling, lifelines etc,” Salceda said.
He added that the hardest part of the retrieval operations is the weather that renders the crash site with zero visibility.
Baldo also said that the retrieval team could not proceed because of clouds obstructing their view.
The Camalig mayor said retrieval teams plan to drill bolts into stable rocks so they can install roofings which they could hold onto should they slip.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the plane was on the western side of the volcano, about 3,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level. — Xave Gregorio
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