By Emil G. Gamos
MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan, Aug. 20 (PNA) -- The death toll in the
Monday drowning incident at the Madlum river in San Miguel town rose to five
Wednesday morning as rescuers continue to search for the two other missing
tourism students of Bulacan State University.
The first year tourism students of Bulacan State University were
swept away by raging waters triggered by a sudden downpour on Monday afternoon.
Latest reports from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Office (PDRRMO) said that the body of Janet Rivera was retrieved
around 10:20 am Tuesday several miles away from where the students were swept
away by the rampaging current.
As of press time, two others are still missing, according to
Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado who cancelled previous engagements to
personally lead the search and rescue operations since Monday.
The subject of the search and rescue operation are Madel Navarro
and Maico Bartolome.
Meanwhile, the four students whose bodies were retrieved Tuesday
afternoon were identified as Michael Alcantara, Michelle Banzil, Helena Marcelo
and Sean Alejo.
In the wake of the accident, Alvarado issued an executive order
banning field trips and trekking activities at the said river.
“While the pristine waters within the Biak-na-Bato national park
continues to allure tourists, we must not discount the dangers that sudden
rains in the mountains could bring,” the governor said adding, that warning
signs and precautionary measures should be put in proper places to ensure that
accidents would not happen again.
Residents in the area said that the river always become “wild and
raging” every time heavy rains fall in the mountains of Biak-Na-Bato, where
massive extraction of the rare but expensive tea rose marble took place more
than four years ago.
The mining of the expensive marble was only stopped when Alvarado
assumed post as governor in 2010.
Initial reports received by the PDRRMO said that four buses
carrying tourism students of the BSU went on a field trip at the historical
Biak-na-Bato caves.
PDRRM executive officer Liz Mungcal said that while trekking the
river near the Madlum cave, the river suddenly rose and swept away the
students.
The river is full of big boulders and limestone that are highly
dangerous when the river gets swollen with strong raging current. (PNA)
LAM/ZST/EGGAMOS/PS
LAM/ZST/EGGAMOS/PS
