NDRRMC: Some Bulusan evacuees falling ill

Some residents evacuated from their homes near restive Bulusan Volcano in Sorsogon have become ill, disaster management officials said Thursday. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said at least seven had acute respiratory infection, two of them having abdominal pain. "There were seven individuals brought to (the regional health unit) due to acute respiratory infection but they were sent home after treatment, with two admitted due to abdominal pain," it said in its 6 p.m. update. NDRRMC said at least 39 families or 168 people from Casiguran and Irosin towns had been evacuated from their homes since Wednesday. Of these, 24 families (117 people) are staying at Escuala Elementary School and barangay hall in Ingladian village in Casiguran. Another 15 families or 51 people are staying at the municipal building in Irosin town. The NDRRMC said the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes in the morning for "normal activities," but were to go back to the evacuation centers in the afternon. Aerial survey Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology conducted an aerial survey of Bulusan Thursday morning. It said the aerial survey confirmed ashfall distribution at the southwest and northwest slopes of Bulusan Volcano as a result of the four explosions since Saturday. "Explosions at the summit resulted to the joining of two explosion craters of the 2006-2007 eruptions into one crater," Phivolcs said. Also, Phivolcs said an examination of ash deposits of the November 9 explosions indicated that the ash grains are old and no new material from the magma is involved. It added the seismic network of Bulusan Volcano detected one volcanic earthquake since 6 a.m. Thursday. Steaming activity was not observed at Irosin's southwest side due to cloud cover, it added. Alert Level 1 remains hoisted over Bulusan Volcano, with the four-kilometer permanent danger zone still in effect. - KBK, GMANews.TV