MANILA (5th Update, 7:00 p.m.) -- Two foreigners were rescued after Mayon volcano in Albay province spewed ash, killing five persons and injuring five others Tuesday morning, radio reports said.
Two Thai nationals identified as Nithi Ruangpisit and Tanut Ruchipiyrak, both 26 years old, were rescued around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Centennial Park, Lidong in Sto. Domingo town, BomboRadyo said, citing reports from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).
The PDRRMC said Ruangpisit and Ruchipiyra sustained injuries and were immediately brought to a hospital for medical treatment, adding that both also underwent post traumatic treatment.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Mayon volcano produced a small phreatic event at 8 a.m. Tuesday that lasted about 73 seconds.
Phivolcs said the gray to brown clouds reached 500 meters above the summit and drifted west southwest, but no volcanic earthquake was detected within the past 24-hour observation period.
Twenty-seven hikers were on the volcano when it spewed ashes, the NDRRMC said, adding that as of Tuesday afternoon, five people were confirmed dead, five injured and six were reportedly unharmed.
Of the five fatalities, four were German nationals and the other one was the Filipino tour guide identified as Jerome Berin.
Injured were Kenneth Jesalva, Bernard A. Hernandez, Calixto B. Balunso, Nicanor Mabao and one male Thai national; while those unharmed were Jorge Cordovilla, a female Austrian national, a female Thai national and three male Thai nationals, authorities said.
Guide Kenneth Jesalva earlier told ABS-CBN by cellphone from a camp near the crater that the four climbers died after being hit by huge rocks.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said President Benigno Aquino III has instructed the NDRRMC to ensure that the system and the available facilities and resources are in place in retrieving the casualties and attending to the injured victims.
"There are already two Air Force choppers that have been deployed to retrieve the casualties. The focus now is attending to the injured and, of course, facilitating the repatriation of the fatalities," she said.
The Chief Executive told the NDRRMC to brief him of the circumstances behind the incident and update him on the progress of the contingency operations.
"What we understand is the local government has restricted activity and, precisely, the President wanted to know what are the parameters because the six-kilometer danger zone is something that is enforced by the local government. They are in charge to enforce and to make sure that nobody gets hurt," Valte said.
State volcanologists ruled out the possibility of evacuating residents near the slope of Mayon volcano, the Philippines' most active volcano, in Albay following the steam-driven explosion on Tuesday.
Calling it a "regular" event, Director Renato Solidum of Phivolcs said the phreatic explosion can happen even if the volcano is under Alert Level 0 (normal), just in the case of Mayon.
"There's no need to evacuate but we'll continuously monitor the volcano's activity," he said.
Human activities within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone have already been suspended by Governor Salceda. (Virgil Lopez/AP/SDR/Sunnex)