Five trekkers found dead in Tarlac

MANILA, Philippines - Five mountaineers died and nine others were injured after they were swept by a strong current in San Jose, Taclac last Sunday.

Charmaine Mallari, planning officer of Office of Civil Defense Central Luzon, said the casualties were part of a team that conducted an outreach program in the province.

She said representatives from Tarlac Game Nest MC and University of the Philippines (UP) Manila joined the activity.

“A total of 54 mountaineers went to Barangay Iba in San Jose, Tarlac for their outreach mission. On their way back, while crossing the Nagsasa Creek, the water current in the creek swelled,” Mallari told dzMM yesterday in Filipino.

Eleven of the mountaineers were swept by the current but five of them were rescued.

“The bodies of the five mountaineers have been recovered while one is still missing,” Mallari said.

The identities of the casualties are still being validated. Mallari said nine of the 54 mountaineers were hurt during the incident but they only sustained minor injuries. Authorities are now conducting search and rescue operations to locate the missing mountaineer.

Initial reports about the incident created confusion as some of the victims were identified as members of the UP Mountaineers, an organization based in the Diliman campus.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the group clarified that none of its members joined the activity.

“We would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this tragedy. We are hopeful that the missing persons would be found soon. We wish to clarify that this is not an activity of the UP Mountaineers and we have no members involved in this activity,” the statement read.

The UP Mountaineers said there might have been confusion with regard to the facts because some of the people involved are from UP Manila.