GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 April) — Three persons, including a pregnant woman, were injured while several government buildings, houses and other private structures were damaged in the coastal towns of Glan and Malapatan in Sarangani Province as a result of the magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit the area before dawn Saturday.
Ken Dollar Pontilar, staff member of the Sarangani Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said the victims sustained injuries when the quake struck at 4:23 a.m., while fleeing to safer grounds.
He identified the victims as Edilberto Corporal, 55, and Everly Dala, 16, of Barangay Poblacion; and Leo Remollo, 56, of Barangay Calabanit in Glan.
Corporal, who was driving a motorcycle, was reportedly hit by rolling stones from a nearby hill during the quake, he said.
Pontilar said Dala, who was nine months pregnant, fell from an unspecified vehicle while evacuating from their community in Purok Riverside in Poblacion, while Remollo was hit by a motorcycle while fleeing their village.
He said the three were rushed to the Glan municipal hospital for treatment.
“We received a report that Dala had been transferred to another hospital in GenSan (General Santos City) due to her delicate condition,” he told MindaNews on the phone.
Citing their initial assessment, Pontilar said at least three houses, a private warehouse and five government structures sustained various damages due to the quake.
He said the three houses, which are situated at the Pacman Village in Barangay Tango, suffered major breaks on the walls and ceiling, and were declared by provincial government engineers as unsafe for dwelling.
Cracks were also found in portions of the Glan port, the newly-completed port office, municipal hall building, municipal hospital building and the municipal police station building, he said.
In Malapatan town, he said a still undetermined number of houses were reported to have sustained minor damages due to the quake.
He said the local government reported that four fish-aggregating devices or payaos and 10 fish nets were “lost at sea” as a result of the quake.
A situation report released by the Office of Civil Defense-Region 12 said a resident in Maitum, Sarangani was treated for hypertension while two residents in Lake Sebu town in South Cotabato also suffered minor injuries. (MindaNews)
