Boy, 15, drowns in Banga river

Personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard and the Aklan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office carry the body of the 15-year-old Patrick Robelo retrieved from the river in Barangay Linabuan Sur, Banga, Aklan around 7:40 a.m. on Sunday, April 15. PCG

3 other minors rescued

KALIBO, Aklan – His body was fished out of the river almost seven hours after he and three other minors were reported to have drowned in Barangay Linabuan Sur, Banga, Aklan, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

The lifeless body of the 15-year-old Patrick Robelo was retrieved from the river around 7:40 a.m. on Sunday, a PCG report showed.

Anthony Sabiaga saw Robelo’s cadaver floating in the river that day and informed the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, which responded to the area with personnel from the PCG.

Robelo and his cousins Rhea Laurente, 14, Troyd Andrade, 12, and Loyd Andrade, 13, went swimming in the river on Saturday afternoon. Troyd and Loyd were brothers.

According to the PCG, they plunged into the deep portion of the river around 1:30 p.m. and drowned.

Responding personnel from the PCG and the provincial and municipal disaster risk reduction and management offices, with the help of some residents, were able to rescue Laurente and the Andrades.

The search and retrieval operation for Robelo, however, halted around 6 p.m. on Saturday due to “poor visibility in the river,” the PCG said.

Robelo’s body was brought to the Belinario-Daguno Funeral in Banga. (With Ian Paul Cordero/PN)

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