A total of 100 police and fire personnel in Negros Island Region (NIR) have been deployed to Cebu province since Wednesday, October 1, to augment search and rescue (SAR) operations in areas devastated by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Tuesday night, September 30.

Of the number, the Police Regional Office – NIR dispatched 80 policemen, including 41 from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office and 39 from the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office.

In a statement yesterday, PRO-NIR Director Brigadier General Arnold Thomas Ibay commended the deployed personnel for their courage and professionalism in carrying out a vital mission to save lives and ensure public safety.

“By augmenting PRO-Central Visayas, we extend not only our manpower but also our compassion and solidarity to earthquake-affected communities. The selected personnel are all trained in disaster response and emergency operations,” he said.

The PRO-NIR augmentation team will remain in their place of assignment “for an initial duration of one to two weeks to support search and rescue missions, evacuation efforts and humanitarian operations in earthquake-affected communities.”

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-NIR deployed a 20-man special rescue force to Cebu province to reinforce the collapsed structure SAR operations.

Those dispatched are from the BFF-NIR regional office as well as from the various city and municipal fire stations in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.

Senior Supt. Gweenah Besas, assistant regional director for administration, said the BFP-NIR personnel will remain in their assigned area until the termination of operations.

As of yesterday morning, the number of reported deaths from the earthquake has reached 72, all from Central Visayas, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. (PNA)