By ARMANDO FENEQUITO JR.
DAVAO CITY —— The death toll from the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked some towns in Davao del Sur on Sunday has increased to eight, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 reported Tuesday.
The report said that as of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, three deaths were recorded in the town Padada, two in Matanao, one in Bansalan, one in Magsaysay, and one Hagonoy.
The three in Padada were those people retrieved from the collapsed South Green Marketing building identified as Elsa Ababon, Evangeline Artiaga, and Emily Benoy.
The two in Matanao were the six-year-old girl identified as Cherbel Chen Gador and a bedridden Juliana Cagas.
In Magsaysay, the 63-year-old farmer Fernando Balitayo died due to heart attack while he was in the farm when the quake hit their town.
The 80-years-old Carlito Ibon of Balutakay, Hagonoy, also died due to heart attack.
While Elias Degamon, 60, died in New Clarin in the town of Bansalan.
The number of those injured also rose to 149, most of them in Davao del Sur.
There were also 1, 483 houses and 58 infrastructures that were totally damaged in the province.
