Teenager dies while saving mother and baby sibling in Cebu earthquake

A 17-year old teenager who died while  trying to save her mother and younger sibling during the deadly 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday in Bogo City, Cebu is being hailed as a hero. 

In GMA Regional Tv’s Fe Marie Dumaboc’s report on Saksi on Wednesday, a vacant lot beside a community chapel in Sitio Felomin in Barangay Binabag hosts the remains of 11 people who died during the earthquake last Tuesday evening.   

The victims were residents of a community located at the foot of a mountain whose homes were buried under boulders that crushed everything in their path as a result of the tremors.

Their grief-stricken families are still trying to deal with the sudden tragedy that befell their loved ones.

One of the fatalities was 17-year old Lady, who witnesses said died when she returned to her home to try and save her mother and infant sibling. 

In another household, Jecel Malinao is finding it difficult to accept the fate of her two young sons, aged 10 and five, who perished after rocks fell on them. She said she tried to save her sons but to no avail.  

Survivors have appealed to the local government, which has provided coffins for the deceased, to help them bury their loved ones.

Search, rescue and retrieval operations have ceased on Wednesday, after the Office of Civil Defense said all casualties have been accounted for.

A total of 73 persons died as a result of the earthquake..

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Bogo City on Tuesday is the strongest earthquake ever recorded in northern Cebu, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). —RF, GMA Integrated News