2 children drown in shallow river

ATOK, Benguet — Two children died when they tried to go swimming in a shallow river in Barangay Pasdong here late Tuesday afternoon June 29.

The children went to the river just a few meters from their residence when their grandfather got out of their house and attended a consultation-meeting called for by barangay officials.
Chief Supt. Orlando Pestano, regional police director, said the victims were seven and five years old and residents of Barangay Pasdong.

Investigation showed the children, who did not know how to swim, went to the river to have fun, but they drowned due to the strong water current spawned by the afternoon rain.

Barangay officials and residents, who attended the consultation-meeting, were on their way home when they saw the bodies of the victims floating in the river.

They immediately sought the assistance of the Atok policemen to retrieve the bodies. Members of the scene-of-the-crime-operation team found on the river bank the clothes and slippers of the victims.

Pestano said the parents of the children were reportedly at the La Trinidad vegetable trading post working for a living during the tragic incident. – Dexter A. See