Climber drowns in Mt. Apo lake

DAVAO CITY – A mountain climber drowned at Lake Venado last Thursday while he was more than halfway in a Holy Week trek to the peak of Mt. Apo, the country’s highest mountain.

The Southern Mindanao Regional Police Office identified the victim as Ian Caasi, of the Mindanao Alliance of Mountaineering Club (MALMOC).

Initial reports bared that Caasi was with a group of climbers from Davao City who went up last Thursday to Mt. Apo using the route in Barangay Kapatagan in Digos City.

Caasi’s group reportedly reached Lake Venado at around 4:30 p.m. Later, he and two other climbers – Ernesto Arlos and Jeffrey Parantar – decided to swim in the lake.

But the lake water turned out to be very cold and the climbers felt they were being sucked in by the waters. Caasi failed to surface, and despite efforts by different rescue and emergency response groups, his body has not been found as of press time. – Edith Regalado