Evacuees increases as Mayon nears eruption

Residents evacuating from the vicinity of Mt. Mayon in Albay province has increased to more than 20,000 as lava from the volcano continues to flow.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the alarming situation has affected a total of 5,318 families or 21,823 individuals in 25 barangays in the towns of Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao City, Daraga, Tabaco City, and Malilipot in Albay.

People in the area were advised to be alert and to refrain from entering the six kilometer-radius permanent danger zone (PDZ) and the seven-kilometer extended danger zone on the southern flanks of the mountain due to the danger of rock falls, landslides, and sudden explosions or dome collapse that may generate hazardous volcanic flows.

Mayon Volcano has been under alert level 3 since Monday which means that there is an “increased tendency toward hazardous eruption within weeks or days.’’

Moreover, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Southern Luzon Command has been put on standby alert for the pre-emptive evacuation of residents as Mayon nears its eruption.

(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 01/ 16 / 18)