Van plunges into Cagayan river; 5 missing

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines  – Police have launched a search and rescue operation for five people believed carried by strong current after the passenger van they were riding fell into a river in Baggao, Cagayan early yesterday morning.

A retired former police chief of Baggao, Dominador Serquina, who owned the van, was believed among those missing.

The van, according to reports from the Baggao police, was heading toward this city amid heavy rainfall when it fell off a bridge in Barangay Bitag Grande, Baggao town at around 6:30 to 7 a.m. yesterday.

The van was retrieved at noon yesterday but its passengers, whose identities were still being verified as of press time, were missing.

Meanwhile, at least 57 families were displaced in Baggao following the swelling of the river, prompting the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to place the town under alert in anticipation of the release of water from the Magat Dam reservoir in Ramon, Isabela.

– Raymund Catindig, Charlie Lagasca