No foul play in drowning of Romanian in Banaue

By Redjie Melvic Cawis

BANAUE—There was no foul play on the death of a foreign student who drowned at the Tapiya Water Falls in Barangay Batad here during the Holy Week.

           

Cordillera regional police director Chief Supt. Benjamin Magalong said the death of Romanian student, George Sfintes, was caused by drowning.

            He was reported missing Holy Wednesday while swimming with his companions.

            Ifugao provincial police office reported the body of the victim was found floating morning of Black Saturday.

            The 22-year old student from the University of Japan came to Banaue morning of Holy Wednesday.

            Together with 10 other European and Japanese students and their local guides, they trekked to Batad Village where they took a dip at the Tapiya Falls area where Sfintes went missing.

            The police and the local government immediately dispatched divers into the Tapiya Falls but it was too deep and the current was strong.

            Search and rescue teams were also mobilized.

            Ifugao provincial police chief Laurence Mombael said Sfintes could have strayed too close to the base of the falls and may have been sucked by the churning water.

            Magalong said the autopsy report showed the foreigner died of drowning.

            This was also corroborated by the victim’s fellow students who were witness to the event.

            Magalong recommended that the local government register all the tourists going to the locality for monitoring and for them to provide safety precautions and equipment for diving and swimming at the waterfall area.

            In August last year, another foreigner identified as Lee Kangyong, 29 year-old, a researcher from South Korea, drowned at the same falls and his body was found  after several days.