OLONGAPO CITY—(UPDATE) All of the 100 mountaineers, who were stranded on Mt. Tarak in Mariveles, Bataan, have been accounted for after rescue workers escorted them to safety on Sunday as heavy rain brought by Typhoon “Karen” pounded the area, police said.
The mountaineers trekked up the mountain on Saturday, said Supt. Crizalde Conde, Mariveles police chief.
Conde said 56 of the hikers reached the ground on Sunday morning while the remaining 44 were brought to safety at 12:30 p.m.
“They are all safe now and no one was injured. Many of them headed home already,” Conde told the Inquirer over the telephone.
Police said some of the mountaineers failed to register with local village officials. Only 78 signed up in the registry of Alas-asin village in Mariveles before climbing the ridge.
Authorities estimated that 42 trekkers took a trail from Bagac town. Twenty of them, however, turned back before the storm struck, police were told.
Conde said most of the mountaineers were from Manila and Cavite.
He said rescue teams, including some 50 policemen and army personnel, met the mountaineers on the ground. CBB/RAM/rga
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