MANILLA
So far, 13,811 people in Bicol Region shifted to safe places, says official statement
Over 100 more residents have been relocated to evacuation centers from affected villages in the Philippines in the last 24 hours since the Mayon volcano began spewing lava and sulfuric gas, state-run media said on Tuesday.
So far, 3,876 families or 13,811 people in the Bicol Region have been shifted to safe places, Philippine News Agency reported, citing a National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council statement.
Mount Mayon, one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes, began spewing lava on Sunday night.
Authorities have established over 20 evacuation centers for displaced people of the wider Bicol area.
Of this total, 3,701 families, or 13,179 people are being housed in 21 evacuation centers, with the remainder living outside or seeking shelter with relatives and friends, the statement said.
Authorities also launched a relief operation in the affected region and sent tents, food, and other essential items to people who have been displaced from their homes.
The United Arab Emirates has also sent 50 tons of humanitarian aid to help the affected families, according to the news agency.
Volcanologists in the Southeast Asian country raised Mayon to alert level three on a scale of five, signifying a “relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and a warning of the increased possibility of a hazardous eruption within weeks or even days.”
