Heat stroke kills AFP trainee, downs 16 others

,heGAMU, Isabela– A military trainee died while 16 others were hospitalized due to heat stroke while undergoing training at the Army’s 5th Infantry Division headquarters here Wednesday.

Col. Loreto Magundayao, civil-military relations chief of the 5th ID, said Erickson Pascua, 21, of Cordon, Isabela, succumbed to heat stroke eight hours after he fainted while undergoing a physical test for trainees.

The temperature that day in Isabela was 38 degrees Celsius, the hottest in recent years, while it was 39 degrees Celsius in Cagayan’s Tuguegarao City, which recorded the country’s highest temperature of 42 degrees Celsius three decades ago.

“Pascua was immediately rushed to the Isabela Doctors Hospital after receiving first aid at the camp clinic but his condition worsened.

His body wasn’t able to withstand the heat,” Mangundayao said.

Magundayao said 16 other trainees – of the more that 300 candidates for military enlistment – were also rushed to the hospital due to dehydration and exhaustion.

Magundayao said they will now conduct their training earlier in the day to avoid the extreme heat of the sun.