One of 25 lady trekkers was injured which made their survival atop the mountain double harder.
Twenty-five (25) lady trekkers were stranded atop Mount Mandalagan in Talisay City in Negros Occidental province after heavy rains came across their way.
The trekkers, who were all professional mountaineers from Cebu and other parts of Luzon, mounted Mandalagan on early Saturday morning to get to Tinagong Dagat (literally translated as Hidden Sea), a tourist spot in between the vicinity of Talisay and Silay cities.
They started off at Sitio Kulukabayo and Campuestuhan, Brgy. Cabatangay, Talisay City but as they were making their way up, heavy rains brought by Southwest monsoon (Hangin Habagat) fell and the torrents lasted the whole day until Saturday evening.
They went with a guide who is a regular at Tinagong Dagat.
It is said that one of the lady trekkers, who is a professional nurse, slipped as she hopped to a big and slippery stone which resulted to a fracture on one of her ankles.
Talisay City Executive Assistant on Peace and Order head Gerome Bagtas said, around 6:00 of Saturday night when they received the information from the members of Bantay Bukid, Talisay City police station and city disaster risk reduction and management office (CDRRMO).
They immediately launched the search and rescue operation and sent off the city’s Radiant Rescue Team to find the lady trekkers.
An hour later, the team found a batch of thirteen and after a while, they also found the twelve others.
The Radiant Rescue Team found it hard to bring down the trekkers because of the injured lady who cries out because of severe pain due to the fracture she succumbed.
Early Sunday morning, the lady trekkers were successfully rescued and the inured nurse was brought to Bacolod Adventist Medical Center (BAMC) for proper medical attention.
Because of the incident, the city government of Talisay will tighten its rules to tourists and trekkers who want to visit the Tinagong Dagat.
Bagtas said that aside from the permit from the City Tourism Office, those who want to go atop Mount Mandalagan must secure a permit from the CDRRMO and must also inform his office.