Video showing sea rescue of Iligan flood survivors spreads online, touches viewers
InterAksyon.com

A nine-minute video clip showing crewmen of a chartered ship plucking eight survivors of the deadly flashfloods that struck Iligan City has been spreading on the Internet as touched viewers share the footage on social networks.

A note accompanying the video, uploaded on YouTube by tatacalungsod, says the footage is of crewmen of the M/V Yang A., chartered by Holsim Cement.

Although the video was uploaded December 21, a comment to the video notes the footage was taken around noon on December 17, Saturday. Also, when a crewman asks the survivors in Bisaya how long they have been in the water, they reply, “Since last night.”

The flashfloods struck past midnight, when most residents of Iligan and the other devastated city, Cagayan de Oro, were sleeping.

The video annotation also says the rescue took place some 12 kilometers from shore.

After rescuing a woman and a man with his two young children, the crewmen spot two more girls clinging to pieces of wood within a wide area cluttered with debris carried out to sea. The crewmen have to steer with an oar to avoid fouling their rubber boat’s propeller as they approach the girls, who say they cannot swim.

One of the girls holds on to a plastic jar that she won’t let go of. The crewman takes it onboard with her, surmising that “it must be important to her.”

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