Trapped Negros hikers rescued

DUMAGUETE CITY—Eight hikers were rescued on Friday afternoon from Mt. Talinis in Valencia town, Negros Oriental where they had been trapped since Thursday.

The Negros Oriental Search and Rescue headed by Boyet Somoza went up Mt. Talinis Friday and found the group mid-afternoon Friday.

Only two of the eight hikers were identified—Carl Consing and Charles Salon.

Angelo Tiongson, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council action officer, said the eight hikers left for Mt. Talinis on Wednesday and were scheduled to arrive back in Valencia town proper on Thursday.

Consing sent a message to his brother Yuri, informing him that they could not return because they could not cross the swelling Buayahan River due to heavy rains.

Salon, the 21-year-old son of Provincial Assistant Prosecutor Eugene Salon, sent a text message to his mother Thursday midnight asking for help after they got lost in the forest.

Charles also asked for phone load, Salon said.

According to Salon, the hikers were youth members of the Heartland Covenant Church, formerly Jesus Christ Ministries, a sect of the Pentecostal Church. Florence Baesa, Inquirer Visayas