8 rescued after pump boat capsizes in Cotabato City

MANILA, Philippines—Eight passengers were rescued after a pump boat capsized in Cotabato City on Thursday night, the military said on Friday.

Colonel Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said that soldiers from the Special Forces plucked from the water the passengers of a pump boat that capsized in Bukana River past 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Datu Bong Sumlay of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos of Soccsksargen asked the headquarters of  the 11th Special Forces Company in Kalanganan village to rescue the civilians.

The pump boat was sailing from Pura village in Datu Blah Sinuat in Maguindanao, Hermoso said.

Six of the eight passengers were identified as  Charisma Karon-Malolo; Moharim I Karon (Department of Social Welfare and Development- Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao);  Mohammad Karon (Office of the Regional Vice Governor-ARMM;  Hadja Sarah Iskak Karon; Undang Kusain; and Moein Galib.