Where Have You Been Lately?

“Four dead in Pinatubo disaster. Bad trip. 3 French 1 guide.”

This was the exact text message I got from my good friend and mountaineering colleague, Agot Comia.

Agot and her better half, Migs, have always been vigilant with the latest happenings in the mountaineering community of Zambales. I could say they left their hearts in that place. Their son, Kidlat, was name after Mt. Balingkilat, which stands on the ground of Zambales. An annual open climb is also being organized by the couple for mountaineers hoping to conquer the said mountain.

Having said that, with their priceless love for the province and its residents, all of the fresh updates of whatever’s going on in Zambales that I have received are from them. Weather updates, itineraries, logistics, even deaths of fellow mountaineers and travelers.

I have been editing a post for our upcoming Baguio trip when last night I got the message. And I was like, WTF. Not again.

Leaving six European and three South Korean survivors, the lives of two French, one Belgian, and one Filipino guide who were trying to explore Mt. Pinatubo’s wonder were taken away by an unexpected flash flood that occurred Thursday, August 7.

The tourists with their Filipino guide were exploring the volcano when their path back to the community was blocked by landslides. The four casualties were swept away by the flash floods and their bodies were found the next day.

Thank God that most of the group were rescued but let us still pray for the repose of the souls of the victims.

Reading articles off the internet, I found some containing bits of info about the incident. “Virtually, all areas in the province have experienced flooding,” said Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso. So, it isn’t just the tourists who lost their friends. The locals were also badly impaired. I just can’t imagine the terror they might have gone.

Anyway, for those reading this, please be reminded that rain could mean flood. And typhoon could mean worse. Typhoon Kiko is within Philippines’ area of responsibility when this latest incident happened (and it still is as I write this). Given that fact, let us all be responsible to be mindful of the actions that we do especially when nature is involve.

Tags: August 7 2009, Baguio, death, European, Filipino, flash flood, Gov Amor Deloso, landslide, Mt. Balingkilat, Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines, rain, South Korean, tourists, tragedy, Typhoon Kiko, Zambales

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This entry was posted by Kaiz on Saturday, August 8th, 2009 at 7:03 am and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.