Bodies of all 4 Cessna passengers retrieved

The remains of all four victims of the Cessna plane crash in Albay have been retrieved after 13 days, Camalig, Albay Mayor Carlos Baldo said on Thursday night.

"The bodies of pilot Rufino James T. Crisostomo Jr., mechanic Joel G. Martin, and the two Australian passengers, Mr. Simon Chipperfield and Mr. Karthi Santhanam are set to be turned over to the scene of the crime operation (SOCO) for further investigation," Baldo said on Facebook.

The local official said that the search and rescue operations for Cessna 340A ran for over five days until operations were shifted from rescue to retrieval following the confirmation of the four passengers' actual location, identity, and situation.

Baldo offered sympathies to the bereaved families and friends of the four crash victims.

He also expressed his gratitude to the "selfless efforts and the courageous hearts of the responders who have put their lives on the line and stood up to the challenges surrounding Camalig's first and, hopefully, the last aviation tragedy." —Sherylin Untalan/NB, GMA Integrated News