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,

BOGO, Philippines (Reuters) -Philippine authorities said on Thursday that search and rescue operations in quake-hit Cebu province have ended, as the current death toll of 72 was not expected to go much higher and missing people had been accounted for.

Rescuers check the rubble for survivors and bring out victims in body bags following a magnitude-6.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of Bogo in Cebu

The death toll in a powerful earthquake that hit the central Philippines late Tuesday has risen to 72 with nearly 300 others injured.

Generally, the foreign office advises against all travel to parts of the Philippines, including Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. The FCDO encourages prospective travellers to Cebu and nearby provinces to contact their travel providers and check their travel insurance covers natural disasters.