Passengers climb to roof of stranded bus on flooded Quezon road

Passengers of a stranded bus along the heavily flooded Pitogo-Gumaca Road in Quezon province were forced to climb to the roof while waiting for rescue on Tuesday morning.

Photos shared by Emelia Ros Quiñones to GMA News showed several passengers on the roof of a passengers bus stranded along the flooded road in Barangay Biga.

Superintendent Roderick Armamento, Quezon provincial police office director, said that three passengers buses and a private car were stranded along the flooded road.

The stranded buses include two DLTB units and an Amihan unit, all bound for Bicol.

Armamento said in a radio dzBB interview that the 25 passengers of the DLTB bus shown in the photo were rescue at around 9:30 a.m.

The bus got stranded at around 3 a.m. as Tropical Depression Maring was pounding the province with heavy rains.

Armamento said the bus was located near a river. The rescuers used boats to reach the area and rescue the passengers, he added. 

Meanwhile, the Philippine Army's 2nd Infantry Division has deployed rescue team in flooded areas in the Calabarzon area.

Division commander Major General Roderick Parayno said more rescue teams were deployed particularly in Gumaca, Lopez, Calauag and Atimonan towns in Quezon province.

Parayno said rescue boats and military trucks have also been deployed for the rescue efforts.

Flooding hit several areas in Calabarzon due to heavy rains brought on by Maring, which is expected to make landfall over the Quezon-Aurora area on Tuesday afternoon.

Twenty areas in Luzon have been placed under Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal number 1 due to Maring.

Moderate to heavy rains are also expected in Bicol, Mimaropa, Central Luzon, Metro Manila and Pangasinan province.

Another cyclone, Typhoon Lannie, has also entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

As of Tuesday morning, the typhoon's eye was estimated at 1,255 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan. —with reports from Victoria Tulad and Rod Vega/ALG, GMA News