Earthquake death toll rises to 72 in the Philippines as survivors recall moment when tragedy struck

BOGO, Philippines (AP) — When firefighters brought out the body of his 4-year-old son in a bag from a budget hotel demolished by a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in the central Philippines, Isagani Gelig stooped down and gently stroked the black cadaver bag for several minutes, trying to feel his child's remains inside for the last time.

A bag containing the body of Gelig's wife, the Condor Pension House’s receptionist, was carried out next. She had worked there at night while taking care of their son, John. A rescuer handed him a cellphone found with her body and he nodded a confirmation that it was hers.

Gelig and his family had frantically called after the powerful earthquake shook the city of Bogo in Cebu province Tuesday night, but she never picked up.

“I went around the rubble and kept calling out their names,” Gelig told The Associated Press beside the hotel ruins, where he and rescuers discovered their remains pinned together in the first-floor rubble.

The death toll from the earthquake rose to at least 72 people Thursday, with more than 360 injured. Disaster officials said that there haven't been reports of additional missing people and ended search and rescue efforts. More than 170,000 people were affected, including many who have refused to return home because they were traumatized and fearful of aftershocks.

The earthquake damaged or destroyed 87 buildings and nearly 600 houses in Bogo, a relatively new and progressive coastal city of about 90,000, and outlying towns. Bridges and concrete roads were damaged and a seaport in Bogo collapsed.

The quake was triggered around 10 p.m. by a shallow undersea fault line that Filipino seismologists said has not moved for at least 400 years.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. flew to Bogo Thursday, inspecting damaged houses and buildings and offering cash and medical aid to survivors while mourning with families of the dead. Clusters of tents would be erected for thousands of displaced residents, he said.

Just days ago, the president was in the central region after a fierce storm left at least 37 people dead and affected more than a half-million people, including in Cebu province.

The United States, a longtime treaty ally of the Philippines, offered assistance following the earthquake. Several other countries, including China and Japan, expressed condolences.

“Japan always stands with the Philippines in overcoming this time of difficulties,” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in a message to Marcos.

One of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean.

The archipelago also is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, making disaster response a major task of the government and volunteer groups.

Shortly after the earthquake ravaged Bogo, the Red Cross tried to call up one of its full-time volunteers who lived in the city.

Ian Ho, 49, was a highly trained first responder. When he didn't answer, a Red Cross team was deployed. His house had crumbled and he was found dead inside, buried in the rubble while embracing his 14-year-old son, who was injured. The teen survived, Red Cross Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said.

“He chose to be the shield of his son,” Pang said. “This is the kind of people that we have, lifesavers with an innate instinct to help other people. In this case, the last person that he saved was his son.”

While most people were at home when when the quake struck, Bryan Sinangote was watching a basketball game with less than 100 spectators in San Remigio town, just outside Bogo. Everybody froze. When the up-and-down shaking became intense, everybody dashed out of the gym in panic, the 49-year-old driver said.

A gymnasium ceiling collapsed, killing three coast guard personnel and a firefighter. Sinangote said that he tried to roll away but was partly trapped. He was later pulled free by members of the coast guard and treated for face and arm injuries.

It wasn't his first brush with death. He recalled how Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, destroyed his house in San Remigio in 2013. Haiyan left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines.

“It’s heartbreaking to hear what happened to Bogo city,” Sinangote said, adding that Filipinos have no option but to learn to live side by side with calamities.

“After Typhoon Haiyan destroyed my house, I built it back in one year," he said. "We just have to be prepared for anything."

Jim Gomez contributed to this report from Manila.

Damaged homes lie after a landslide caused by Tuesday's strong earthquake killed some people sleeping in their hillside homes, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Bogo city, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Earthquake survivors hold a "Help" sign along a road Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, days after a strong quake struck in Medellin, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Earthquake survivor Jesiel Malinao sits beside the coffins of her two sons on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 after a strong earthquake on Tuesday caused a landslide that toppled their hillside homes in Bogo city, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A member of the Philippine Coast Guard takes photos of a damaged gym on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 where some people were killed as there watching a game during Tuesday's strong earthquake in San Remigio, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Survivors of Tuesday's earthquake stay in open spaces on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 in San Remigio, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Survivors of Tuesday's earthquake build tents at open spaces on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 in San Remigio, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Survivors of Tuesday's earthquake get checked on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 in San Remigio, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Survivors of Tuesday's earthquake charge their phones on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 in San Remigio, Cebu Province, Central Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.

“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”

Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.

Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.

Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”

He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.

Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”

A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.

“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”

Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.

China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.

China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.

Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.

Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)