The body of a grade six student was found on Wednesday, June 28, almost 20 hours after she drowned in the Matab-ang River in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.
The 12-year-old student from Brgy. Bata, Bacolod City, drowned Tuesday afternoon, Talisay City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Geoffrey Gutierrez said.
The search and rescue operation led by members of the Talisay DRRMO, Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Philippine Coast Guard began at 3 p.m. Tuesday and at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, the victim was found in Hacienda Sta. Maria 1, Brgy. Zone 15, Talisay City, about three kilometers away from the place of the incident.
Rowela Delagao, the mother of the victim, said her child went swimming in the river with her friends as they had no classes on Tuesday.
Gutierrez said that excursionists are not allowed to swim in the river because of the threat of possible drowning.*