7 girls drown in Quezon

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines – Six third-year nursing coeds of La Concordia College in Manila and a 12-year-old girl drowned while nine others suffered injuries while swimming in a beach in Infanta, Quezon early yesterday morning, police said.

PO1 Adrian Coralde, an investigator of the Infanta police, identified the fatalities as Karen May Efren, 18; Marisma Macabuag, 18; Jovel Ortiz, 19; Kristine Regis, 18; Camille Soriano, 19; and Jezelle Mijarez, 18, and 12-year-old Jonarose Francia, daughter of a local resident where the students were staying.

Eight other students were rushed to the Claro M. Recto Memorial District Hospital in Infanta. Another student, Vyera Ramirez, 17, was in critical condition and rushed to a Manila hospital, Coralde said.

In a phone interview, Allen de los Reyes, Infanta municipal information officer, said the students were undergoing a community health nursing training in Barangay Pinaglapatan when they decided to take a break and go swimming at around 4:30 a.m. yesterday.

Initial reports said the students excitedly jumped into the sea as their motorboat was about to dock. But police later said the students were swimming near the sandy island of Sabangan when the tide suddenly swelled and waves swept them away.

Divers from the Coast Guard station in Puerto Real, Quezon, joined by municipal and police rescuers, helped save the nine survivors.

Officials of La Concordia College immediately rushed to Infanta after receiving information on the tragedy.– With Cecille Suerte Felipe