'All accounted for': Search, rescue operations in quake-hit Cebu end
Patients wait outside Cebu Provincial Hospital in Bogo City after a strong earthquake struck the area in Cebu province on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo)
Authorities have concluded the conduct of search and rescue operations in the province after all the missing persons were already accounted for, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Thursday, Oct. 2.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randufl Tuaño police forces deployed in Cebu were advised of the end of search and rescue efforts on Wednesday night, “the search operation was concluded after all the missing persons were accounted for.”
“The concentration right now is on relief and rehabilitation operations,” said Tuaño.
The death toll from the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas left 72 dead, three of them were recovered on Wednesday night.
A total of 294 people were injured while around 171,000 people were affected.
Tuaño said red alert status is still in effect over Central Visayas, especially in Cebu, to maximize the relief efforts and disaster response operations.
Around 2,250 policemen from the Police Regional Office 7 were deployed while hundreds more were sent from Western Visayas, Negros Island Region and Eastern Visayas,
Among those deployed were five speed boats from the Maritime Group.
“The focus of the operation of our personnel on the ground were security, medical, road clearing and providing logistics or transportation as part of the efforts to bring back normalcy in the affected areas,” said Tuaño.