Coconut trees pin 2 to death

COTABATO CITY — A barangay chairman and a 40-year-old Maranaw housewife were killed when coconut trees, uprooted by strong winds, fell on them in separate incidents in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur yesterday.

The first fatality, Galah Darandas, chairman of Barangay Litayen, a fishing village on Bonggo Island, some five kilometers off Parang, Maguindanao, died on the spot when a coconut tree pinned him to death as he was inspecting storm-devastated sitios.

The second fatality, Marriam Kasangguan, 40, a resident of Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur, was asleep when a coconut tree landed on her shanty.

Meanwhile, a public school teacher was reported missing after the pumpboat she was riding in capsized in the Pulangi River in President Roxas, North Cotabato yesterday. — John Unson