After six days of search, rescuers found the bodies of the missing couple, Ely Ubatay and Thelma Ubatay, both aged 60, in the muddy bottom of the landslide area in Sitio Kipolot, Barangay Palacapao, Quezon town, Bukidnon, on Thursday morning. The couple, residents of Purok 9, Kahusayan, Kitaotao, Bukidnon, was swept away with their Bajaj 3-wheeler trikes (locally called “bao-bao”) when the highway collapsed in a landslide last Saturday evening. Quezon town public information officer Lyle Justine Egay stated that the couple’s remains were identified by their children after being brought to the holding area in white body bags. Rescuers, supported by three backhoes and K9 dogs, found the missing vegetable vendors buried under 10 meters of mud near the wreckage of their trike. The search was hastened when a backhoe opened a new path, allowing two more backhoes to join. However, heavy rains intermittently halted the operation over fears of further mud collapse. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
