Governor Joey Salceda said that many local tour guides, seeking to cut corners or avoid fees, privately offered hikes up the volcano for $187 per person, while the provincial government lacked enough personnel to guard all volcano entrances, leading to the tragedy.
At least two groups totaling 27 hikers had set up camp near the crater this morning. According to regulations, the area within a 6-kilometer radius of the crater is a permanent danger zone, where entry by tourists or civilians is prohibited, along with farming or grazing.
Authorities have deployed two military helicopters and over 70 rescue personnel to save the injured and survivors, but landslides have blocked mountain roads, and so far only two Thai, two Spanish, and one Austrian tourist have been rescued.
Mayon Volcano has generally been under “Level 0” alert status, indicating no eruption risk. Officials from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) explained that this morning’s incident was not a volcanic eruption; rather, continuous rainfall caused water to seep into the crater, turn into steam upon heating, and trigger an ash explosion, which loosened and dislodged large boulders around the crater rim.
The volcano is located about 340 kilometers southeast of Manila, stands 2,462 meters tall, and has erupted nearly 50 times since 1616. Once hailed as the world’s most perfectly conical volcano, its crater rim has become slightly irregular due to several past eruptions. 1020507
(CNA)
(Central News Agency)