RESCUERS on Thursday morning, Oct. 23 recovered the bodies of a couple who had been missing for six days following a massive landslide in Sitio Kipolot, Barangay Palacapao, Quezon town.
Quezon municipal information officer Lyle Justine Egay said relatives identified the victims as Ely and Thelma Ubatay, both 60, after their remains were brought to a temporary holding area in white body bags.
The couple, residents of Purok 9, Kahusayan in Kitaotao, Bukidnon, were swept away along with their tricycle — locally known as a “baobao” — when the highway collapsed in a landslide last Saturday.
Egay said rescuers, assisted by three backhoes and K9 units, found the couple buried under about 10 meters of mud near the wreckage of their tricycle at the bottom of the slide area.
“The search was hampered by heavy rains, and operations had to be suspended several times for fear that the walls of mud would collapse,” Egay said.
The search operation accelerated after a backhoe opened a new path, allowing two additional machines to join the effort.
The landslide in Sitio Kipolot has been described as a major disruption to container cargo traffic between Northern and Eastern Mindanao.
Transportation officials said it could take up to seven months to carve out a new passageway to restore access for container vans and other vehicles.
