By Diann Calucin
The body of an 11-year-old boy was retrieved by authorities on Friday night, Jan. 6, hours after he drowned in a creek in Quezon City.
The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) La Loma Police Station dispatched a team after receiving a call at 8:35 p.m. about a drowning incident involving four minors in a creek on G. Araneta Avenue near cor. N.S. Amoranto Street in Quezon City.
According to the report, the QC Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) rescued two of the four minors, aged 15 and 17, during the retrieval operation. They are now in stable condition.
At 11:50 p.m. on the same day, the 11-year-old boy was found dead in the creek under a pile of garbage.
The search for the remaining missing boy, 12, took for six hours on Friday night, but he was not found.
The authorities had to temporarily stop the rescue operation to clean the creek first. They said it would be difficult for the divers to find the other victim because of the large volume of garbage.
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard Special Operations Group (PCG-SOG) conducted a follow-up search and retrieval operation on Saturday, Jan. 7.
The PCG-SOG and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) also brought equipment and three dump trucks to the area to remove the garbage in the creek and continue the search for the missing boy.