Stranded passengers in Bicol swell to 6,000

LEGAZPI CITY — About 6,000 passengers were still stranded in various ports in Bicol yesterday as tropical storm "Zigzag" prevailed over the region, civil defense officials said.

Arnel Capili, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said 4,240 people aboard 72 buses, 43 small vehicles and 40 trucks were stranded in Matnog port in Sorsogon; 760 people in Tabaco port in Albay; 40 in Virac, Catanduanes; 400 in Bulan, Sorsogon; and 200 in Masbate City.

Avelino Fortuna, Coast Guard commander in Bicol, temporarily stopped the operation of the ferry Maharlika I due to rough seas caused by the weather disturbance.

The cancellation of ferry service from Matnog port in Sorsogon to Allen town in Samar swelled the number of stranded passengers.

Matnog Mayor Guillermo So and personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and Development extended assistance like food and medical care to the thousands of stranded passengers.

In Tabaco City, Mayor Alex Burce said stranded passengers bound for Virac, Catanduanes were provided accommodation at the terminal building and warehouse.

Burce also put up a help desk and fielded roving guards to secure the stranded passengers.

For his part, Catanduanes Gov. Leandro Verceles Jr. provided meals for those stranded.

At the Pilar port in Sorsogon, the stranded passengers were given temporary shelter in an evacuation center.

At 4 p.m. yesterday, the center of tropical depression "Zigzag" was located at 90 kilometers east-southeast of Borongan, Eastern Samar.

"Zigzag" maintained its strength with winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center. It was heading toward Leyte and Bohol.

Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1 is in effect over Bicol, Eastern and Central Visayas and the Surigao provinces. — With Cet Dematera and Cecille Suerte Felipe