Boy drowns while saving classmate

A third-year high school student died after he drowned in a small lake in the mountain barangay of Toong while saving a classmate yesterday noon.

Buhisan barangay captain Rustica Asid, who responded when the incident occurred, said the victim was identified as Julius Mariladon, a student of the Abellana National School.

According to initial reports Mariladon went to Toong with 14 other classmates to celebrate the end of school after their final exams the other day. During lunchtime some of them decided to take a dip in the lake and a female classmate floundered when she got to deeper water because she did not know how to swim.

Although he also did not know how to swim, Mariladon came to her rescue anyway, managing to save her before he went under.

The identity of his classmate was not yet established as of press time.

Mariladon's body was recovered only late in the afternoon when a team from the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation arrived. They applied cardio-pulmonary resuscitation but failed to revive him. - Garry B. Lao/BRP