Numerous vehicles were submerged in the rushing lahar on Purok 4 and Purok 8 in Barangay Masarawag, Guinobatan, Albay. The thick mud also reached almost to the bridge.
According to the photos taken by Ralph Felix Ladia Openiano, vehicles caught by the lahar flow were not evacuated. This was in spite of an earlier order from the provincial government of Albay for immediate evacuation due to the threat of mudflow from the volcano.
Phivolcs had previously warned that these volcanic sediments would fall in areas often traversed by the lahar from Mount Mayon.
Dr. Paul Alanis, a Phivolcs volcanologist, stated that Mount Mayon had ejected 49 million cubic meters of volcanic debris when the volcano erupted last year.
(Photos by Ralph Felix Ladia Openiano)
