ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Red tide alert up in Masbate town

LEGAZPI CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has warned the public not to eat shellfish taken from the waters of Milagros, Masbate after a five-year-old child died and eight others were hospitalized due to red tide poisoning.

Ronald Canabe, BFAR-Bicol information officer, said a team headed by regional director Dennis del Socorro went to Milagros town last June 18 to get water and shellfish meat samples for analysis after receiving a report of the shellfish poisoning there.

Canabe said laboratory tests made at the BFAR main office found the samples to be positive for paralytic shellfish toxin.

The BFAR said shellfish also taken from Murcielagos Bay in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental, Matarinao Bay in Eastern Samar, Dumaquillas Bay in Zamboanga del Norte, and Balete Bay in Davao Oriental are unsafe to eat. – Celso Amo

Lightning kills 2, injures 6 in Rizal

Two teenagers were killed while six others suffered burns when lighting struck the hut they were taking shelter in amid heavy rains in San Mateo, Rizal last Monday, authorities said.

Senior Superintendent Rolando Anduyan, Rizal police director, said Jepoy Cariaga, 18, died while being rushed to the hospital while Jason Cristobal, who was earlier listed in critical condition, died yesterday.

Still undergoing treatment at the Amang Rodriguez Medical Memorial Center were Alfredo Cristobal, 43; Manolo Morales, 38, and his children Mark Vincent, 12, and Ulysses, 10.

Two others were brought to the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City but only one of them was identified as Ariston Santos.

Anduyan said the victims wanted to cross the San Mateo River but heavy rains forced them to take shelter in a hut in Barangay Sta. Ana, until the lighting struck. – Non Alquitran

Rebels torch 3 trucks in Surigao

Suspected communist rebels burned three trailer trucks carrying copra products in Algeria, Surigao del Norte last Monday night, the military said.

Maj. Eugenio Osias IV, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said the trucks were flagged down and burned by at least eight armed men along the national highway in Barangay Pungtod, Algeria town.

Osias said the cost of the burned trucks and copra products was placed at about P5 million.

– Alexis Romero