Their lives were abruptly ended by an occurrence not of their own doing. They were trapped in their home and drowned in raging floodwaters, unable to escape because of a collapsed wall that block their way.
But while their deaths were not of their own doing, they were not entirely without participation, no matter how indirect and unwitting, in the sad inevitability of their departure from this life.
They chose to live by the Sindulan Creek in Mabolo, despite its notoriety of producing killer flashfloods. The tragedy was not the first time in Sindulan. And unless people are sobered enough to try and learn its lessons, it will not be the last.
A surviving member of the family, with whom we commiserate in his hour of maddening bereavement, is said to be contemplating the possibility of suing the city for damages. That is a course of action that, of course, he is free to take.
Nevertheless, even if the city has been remiss in implementing flood mitigating measures and other drainage-related programs that could have saved lives during flashfloods, the final decision of staying in harm's way is still that of the individual person.
Even in countries where the most modern safety measures against natural disasters are in place, the tragic loss of lives just cannot be avoided, especially if people themselves chose to tempt the fates.
At about the time of the tragedy, the state of Louisiana was remembering the devastating floods that crippled New Orleans and other areas when hurricane Katrina struck hard at the US underbelly last year. The bottomline is, prudence still makes perfect sense.