14,000 passengers spend Christmas stranded in Bicol ports
LEGAZPI CITY—At least 14,000 passengers spent Christmas Day stranded at different Bicol ports as sea travel remained suspended due to severe Tropical Storm Ursula on Wednesday (Dec. 25).
On Christmas morning, at least 11,521 passengers were stuck at the Matnog and Pilar ports in Sorsogon province and 2,358 were stranded in the provinces of Albay, Masbate and Camarines Sur.
In Sorsogon, food packs were distributed to stranded passengers on Christmas Eve, said Salvador Mendoza, the province’s information officer.
He said rice, chicken adobo, menudo and an apple “for noche buena” were served to the passengers.
The stranded were given shelter in schools in Juban, Irosin and Matnog towns. At least 138 buses, 440 trucks and 369 cars got stuck headed to the Matnog port, forming a 6-kilometer queue.
