Philippine Army conducts search, rescue missions in Central Visayas

Some 158 troops from the 53rd Engineer Brigade are now conducting search and rescue missions in the quake-hit Central Visayas Region after being deployed by the Philippine Army.

The Philippine Army also deployed an ambulance and mission-essential equipment with each team to provide immediate medical care to injured individuals.

The search, rescue, and retrieval teams have already rescued five people, treated five injured, and recovered four bodies of victims in the areas adversely affected by the 6.9-magnitude earthquake.

The Army Engineer Rescue Teams are covering Medellin, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Barangay Caradio-an, Himamaylan, NOC, Sabang II, Allen in Northern Samar, Kuta Kankabato, San Jose, Tacloban City, and Dingle, Iloilo.

This is a developing report, and the Army is also awaiting official updates from other Philippine Army units within the affected areas.

The Philippine Army continues to monitor the situation in Cebu and will deploy troops as necessary to support the government’s search, rescue, and relief operations.