CEBU, Philippines - A seven-year-old boy drowned in a brook made deeper by the downpour last Thursday morning in barangay Lut-od, Pinamungajan town.
Richard Mahinay was already dead when fished out from the water about an hour after he and his friends went to the brook to swim.
PO1 Marciano Suarez of Pinamungajan Police said the victim was reportedly with five other children aged 10, eight, seven and six at the time.
After classes were suspended that day they went to the brook to enjoy themselves. All of them could swim but his companions were allegedly not able to save him after they panicked when the victim suddenly started asking for help.
Suarez said Mahinay’s foot could have been trapped by mud and rocks on the riverbed.
Rains from typhoon Urduja reportedly made the brook deeper and murkier.
He added that the brook was also three kilometers away from the nearest house and immediate rescue was a remote possibility.
The police and the members of the boy’s family are convinced there was no foul play in the death of the victim. — Niña G. Sumacot/BRP (FREEMAN NEWS)