Two patients die after a flash flood washed away ambulance they’re boarding
NEGROS ORIENTAL – Two patients onboard an ambulance passed away after the vehicle was washed away by a flash flood in Bais City.
It was just recently when Odette, the 15th tropical cyclone for 2021, devastated various parts of the country particularly in the Visayas such as in Bohol, Negros, Cebu, Siargao and to name a few.
The typhoon left 14 casualties as of posting. It is estimated that the damage left is worth millions.
One of the provinces severely affected by the typhoon is Negros Oriental.
Amid the onslaught of Odette, an ambulance in the said city boarding two patients was washed away by a flash flood.
Unfortunately, the two patients identified as Junilyn Ferrer, 33, and Leonara Papa, 76 did not survive the catastrophe which took place on the night of December 16.
Their bodies were later retrieved by the rescuers in a sugarcane field, a few meters from the main road.
Chief Master Sergeant Malo Ragay of the Bais police station said the ambulance was bringing the two persons for “urgent medical treatment.”
“The ambulance was speeding to the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete City (about 8 p.m.) when a fallen large tree blocked the national highway in Bais, making it impassable,” Ragay said in an interview.
Due to the blockage of the national highway, the driver decided to drive back north and bring the patients to the Bais District Hospital.
However, the ambulance was hit by floodwater along the way.
The driver and the relative accompanying one of the patients were able to crawl out of the ambulance and hang on to its roof.
“The driver said he felt pity for the two patients who were screaming for help. But there was nothing he could do,” Ragay noted.
When Typhoon Odette made landfall in Negros Oriental, Bais City was placed under Storm Signal no. 4.
Based on the report of Inquirer.net, there are six casualties and six reported missing in the city as of December 17.
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