A 16-year-old boy was found dead in a hole on a center island near the corner of EDSA and Bansalingin Street in Quezon City Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 17.
Members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP-SRU) retrieved the body of Raniel Reano, a dweller on the said center island, who was reported missing for four days.
Staff Sgt. George Caculba of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) said they sought the help of BFP-SRU to recover the body of Reano after the boy’s parents informed the officials of Barangay Veterans Village that they discovered the victim in the hole at around 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
The search and rescue team started the retrieval operation at around 10:40 a.m. They recovered the victim’s body at around 1:41 p.m.
“Nahirapan po ‘yung ating search and rescue sa pag-retrieve ng biktima dahil po sa oxygen, mabaho po kasi sa loob kasi bloated na po ‘yung patay. At the same time, iniiwasan po ng search and rescue unit na ano, dahil bloated nga po ‘yung biktima baka matanggal po ‘yung parts ng body niya (Our search and rescue had a hard time retrieving the victim because of the lack of oxygen, it stank inside because the dead is already bloated. At the same time, since the victim is bloated, the search and rescue unit was avoiding to mangle the body parts)," Caculba said.
Reano was brought to a funeral home on Congressional Ave. in Barangay Bahay Toro, Quezon City, police said.
Caculba said that they are still investigating if the victim was pushed into the hole.