American, Russian tourists die of heatstroke in Lapu-Lapu this month – City Disaster Risk Reduction chief

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LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines — Two foreigners have died in Lapu-Lapu City due to heatstroke this month. 

That is according to Nagiel Bañacia, head of the Lapu-Lapu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (LDRRMO).

READ: Scorching summer and heat index: Dos and Don’ts

Bañacia said that the victims were an American national and a Russian national.

“I think there were already two foreigners. Ang subo lang palandungon kay sila nakalas gyud (It is sad to think about it because they both died),” Bañacia said.

He said that the American national was a retired US serviceman.

“Pag-abot sa atong mga ambulance personnel, naghukas intawn siya dayon gipaningot ug nag-cardiac arrest na. Ulahi nata nga naabot,” he added.

(When our ambulance personnel arrived, he had already his t-shirt. He was already sweating and he had a cardiac arrest. It was already too late when we arrived.)

READ: How to beat the heat? Read on

Meanwhile, the Russian national was renting an apartment and was already dead when they (emergency personnel) arrived in the area.

“Nag-cardiac arrest gihapon to unya I think 24 hours nato siya nga patay. But akong duda, heatstroke,” he said.

(He also suffered a cardiac arrest and I think he was already dead for 24 hours. But, my suspicion is that he died of heatstroke.)

Bañacia said that among the interventions that they were implementing was installing a cooler at the ambulance, to ease the effect of the scorching heat of the sun.

READ: Pagasa warns of danger as extreme heat prevails in Cebu: What to do?

He added that they were now monitoring foreign tourists visiting the country, especially those who came from cold countries.

“Among gitan-aw kining mga turista. We are a tourist city, hilabi na kadtong gikan sa mga cold countries,” he said.

(We are monitoring tourists. We are a tourist city, especially those who came from cold countries.)

Due to this, Bañacia advised the public to always hydrate themselves by drinking a lot of water and avoid direct exposure to the sun.

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/dbs