Philippine quake toll rises to 72 as search winds down

MANILA

The death toll from a powerful earthquake in the central Philippines rose to 72 Thursday, officials said, as the search for the missing wound down and rescuers turned their focus to the hundreds injured and thousands left homeless.

The bodies of the three victims were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed hotel overnight Oct. 1 in the city of Bogo, near the epicenter of the 6.9-magnitude quake that struck on Sept. 30.

"We have zero missing, so the assumption is all are accounted for," National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesman Junie Castillo said, adding that some rescue units in Cebu province have been told to "demobilize."

The government said 294 people were injured and around 20,000 had fled their homes. Nearly 600 houses were wrecked across the north of Cebu and many are sleeping on the streets as hundreds of aftershocks shake the area.

"One of the challenges is the aftershocks. It means residents are reluctant to return to their homes, even those houses that were not [structurally] compromised," Castillo said.

Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro appealed for help Thursday, saying thousands needed safe drinking water, food, clothes and temporary housing, as well as volunteers to sort and distribute aid.

More than 110,000 people in 42 communities affected by the quake will need assistance to rebuild their homes and restore their livelihoods, according to the regional civil defense office.

Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire."