BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – An 18-year-old lass was confirmed dead while two others remained missing after they were swept away by rampaging waters while bathing in the river in Barangay Mandalagan.
The fatality was identified as 15-year-old Janet Rodriguez, a resident of Purok Santol in the said village.
Authorities were still trying to locate two other victims – Jharen Pahilagao and Carl Gabriel Cabrillo.
Joemarie Vargas, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO), said the fourth victim, Gio Paulo Cabrillos, managed to survive the incident.
The four were swimming in the river when the strong current brought by a heavy downpour late Wednesday afternoon carried them downstream.
Gio told authorities he managed to survive after his sibling, Carl, pushed him to the riverbank.
The CDRRMO immediately conducted a search and rescue operation for the three, but it was later suspended due to the evening darkness.
Around 5 a.m. on Thursday, the body of Rodriguez was recovered by local fishermen in Barangay Zone 15 in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.
Vargas said search and retrieval operation continued Thursday for the remaining victims./PN
