Rescue teams ready for forced evacuation ops in town near Taal

Soldiers and rescuers on Wednesday morning were being readied to scour areas in Talisay town fronting the northern part of Taal Volcano Island for residents still refusing to heed to mandatory evacuation calls.

Three days after Taal Volcano's eruption, authorities have already evacuated some 30,000 residents on Taal Volcano Island and neighboring areas, and are now being served in several evacuation centers in Batangas, a report on Unang Balita on Wednesday said.

Preparations for forced evacuation operations of Talisay town residents have been scaled up, the report said, adding that rescue groups were assembled early morning for the operation.

The whole assemblage was divided into six teams, with each group escorted by one soldier and was instructed to conduct house to house search for residents refusing to leave their homes.

Some of rescued residents from Talisay were brought to evacuation centers set up in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

Alert Level 4 is still up over restive Taal Volcano, with the possibility of a hazardous eruption anytime soon.

As of Tuesday, some 34,000 affected individuals have been brought to evacuation centers. —LBG, GMA News