Two more children drowned in southern Negros Oriental last week due to a sudden rise in water level while crossing a creek in Barangay Tabuan, Bayawan City.
The fatalities were identified as Julie Jonales, 10 years old, and his younger sister, Jeovira, aged six, according to Adrian Sedillo, Capitol spokesperson and an executive director of the Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Heavy rains were reported in parts of Negros Oriental early last week due to Typhoon Glenda, which passed through Luzon.
This brings to six the number of young people who drowned in southern Negros Oriental in the month of July alone, he said.
Sedillo quoted a report from Bayawan City that the two siblings were on their way home Monday afternoon around 5 p.m. from the Dita Elementary School and crossed the Tambukod Creek when they were apparently swept away by strong water currents.
Their father and relatives immediately launched a search for the two after they failed to return home from school that day, according to Sedillo.
The body of the girl, Jeovira, was found late Monday along the side of creek, trapped in some trees, while his brother, Julie, was found Tuesday morning further downstream at a portion of the Tabuan River.
Last July 4, three other young people died of drowning in the southern town of Sta. Catalina. They were identified as Sheila Mae Sabanal, 16, Danny Sabanal, 6, and Juliet Sabanal, 8, all of Manalongon, Sta. Catalina.
They were harvesting corn at a farm in the sub-village of Apuya, Manalongon and had crossed a river on their way home when they drowned.
On Tuesday, Rubie Amadera, 17, of Barangay Amio in Sta. Catalina town, also drowned after she slipped and fell into a creek and hit her head on a rock. (PNA/JFP)
