Air force airlifts 4 more to Cebu

Friday, February 10, 2012

FOUR persons from Guihulngan, Negros Oriental were transferred to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City yesterday to receive treatment for injuries they sustained during last Monday’s earthquake.

The victims were identified as Marilyn Villacolar, 11; Jesselyn Anes, five; John Kenneth Sabijon, a high school student; and Marlyn Flores, 33, in an ABS-CBN TV Patrol report.

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They were airlifted by the Philippine Air Force and arrived at the Mactan air base at 3:04 p.m.

Sending help

Anes and Flores suffered fractures in the arms and leg, respectively. Sabijon was injured after he reportedly jumped out of the school building when the tremor began.

“These victims need tertiary care as the hospital here in Negros could not cater to their injuries,” said Nonoy Mongaya in a phone interview with Sun.Star Cebu.

Mongaya, who was in Negros to help with rescue efforts, is the VSMMC’s information officer.

Several medical teams from Cebu City were sent to Negros Oriental to help attend to victims.

Last Wednesday, Felia Acabal, 33; Nicalona Mejares, seven; and a 62-year-old man who remains unidentified were also transferred to the VSMMC from Guihulngan.

Their injuries were critical, according to the rescue teams’ initial assessment.

Acabal and Mejares both fractured their leg after they were hit by a firewall, while the 62-year-old was injured when a ceiling collapsed on him at the height of the earthquake, which was considered to be the strongest to hit the region in nine decades.

“Until now, patients from Negros are being airlifted to Cebu,” Mongaya said in Cebuano.