3 foreigners die in two towns

CEBU, Philippines - Three foreigners died in the towns of Moalboal and Alcoy in Cebu the past three days.

At past 9 a.m. yesterday, an Austrian national who was reportedly suffering from vertigo shot himself at his house in Barangay Basdiot, Moalboal.

Police Officer 1 Niño Ridaza said Eduard Halbwachs, 68,  just had coffee with his wife when he went to their parking lot. Moments later, his wife, Gertrude, reportedly heard gunfire, prompting her to ask their house help to check the area. There, the house help found Halbwachs on the ground covered in blood with a gunshot wound to his head.

A .45 caliber pistol was found near him and investigation revealed Halbwachs had shot himself in the mouth.

Investigation revealed further that Halbwachs told his friend in Austria last month that they may no longer see each other and that he would perhaps be gone before the friend could visit the Philippines.

The Halbwachs couple had lived in the area for 19 years. Police found out Halbwachs had written a will, which states that he is donating his body to a private university or hospital in Cebu for medical use.

Police said nothing would indicate foul play in Halbwachs’ death.

Still in Moalboal, a 52-year-old Swedish national met his untimely death when the motorcycle he was driving rammed into a concrete fence in Barangay Tuble last Sunday night.

Police Officer 3 Ramon Chinel said the fatality, Lars Starner, a mechanical engineer and owner of a pub in the town, went to a party at a beach resort in Barangay Poblacion last Sunday afternoon and decided to leave at around 6 p.m.

Starner was riding his CRF 250 motorcycle and lost control of the vehicle, driving straight to the fence of a house owned by a certain Lina.

Despite wearing a bicycle helmet, he reportedly suffered from severe injuries in the head and some injuries in his body. He was rushed to the Badian District Hospital but did not make it there alive.  

Meanwhile, a German septuagenarian was found dead sitting on a chair at a beach resort in Alcoy town at past 2 p.m. on Sunday.

It was the friend of the deceased, Horst Michael Feyerabend, who found the latter slumped in the chair seemingly unconscious. The friend then sought the help of the police who brought Feyerabend to the hospital but the German was pronounced dead on arrival.

Feyerabend was married to a Filipina and lived in Barangay Atabay, Alcoy.  (FREEMAN)