BUTUAN CITY – Three children drowned while another remains missing due to rampaging flood waters in Cabadbaran River in Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte.
The identities of the victims were withheld as search and rescue operations continued for the remaining boy by the personnel of the disaster risk reduction and management council (DRRMC), according to Agusan del Norte Police Provincial Police Office (PPO) Director Col. Martin M. Gamba.
The bodies of the three victims who are brothers were found by the rescue team within a quarry area at the side of Cabadbaran River in Barangay Mabini, on Wednesday.
“Search operation is still ongoing for the remaining 11-year old boy who is also a relative of the victims,” he said.
Rescue teams from Cabadbaran Emergency Response Team, Cabadbaran City Fire Protection Department, and Cabadbaran City Police Station are still at the place of incident, in an effort to find the boy.
All the victims, with ages 8, 9, 11, and 14, are residents of Purok 8, Barangay Mabini, Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte province.
Initial reports disclosed that the victims were fishing in the Cabadbaran River when the incident took place.
Heavy rains caused by the low-pressure area (LPA) and the tail-end of a frontal system have caused floods and landslides in some areas in Northeastern Mindanao or Caraga region, particularly in the Province of Dinagat Islands (PDI) and Surigao City since Tuesday.
Paragua road that connects the towns of Libjo, Tubajon, and Basilisa in PDI was already cleared and declared passable while clearing operations are still ongoing at the road sections in barangays Jacquez, Matingbe, and Don Ruben in San Jose town, all of PDI, Public Works and Highway Regional Director Engr. Pol M. Delos Santos said in a report to Secretary Mark A. Villar, on Thursday.
The 78 families or 315 individuals from Barangay Sabang in Surigao City who evacuated on Jan. 12 due to floods have received initial food assistance from the city government. They are sheltered temporarily at the Surigao City National High School, said Mayor Ernesto “Estong” Matugas Jr., who visited the evacuation center on Wednesday and Thursday to assess the situation of the affected families.