3 kids drown in site quarried by BCDA contractor in Tarlac

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Three children drowned on Tuesday in a pond that formed in a quarrying site of a contractor of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for its New Clark City project in Tarlac province.

Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan said passer-by Jelvin Umali saw siblings Richel, 7, and Raymar Bruno, 9, and their playmate Eunice Gutierrez, 10, floating in the pond around 10 a.m.

The quarry site was 30 meters long, 15 meters wide and 3.5 meters deep, an Inquirer source said.

Catacutan said the children lived some 1.2 kilometers away from the quarry site.

“Their parents left early for work so they were left in the care of an aunt who did not know they went to a mango orchard [in Sitio Kalangitan in Barangay Cutcut] and probably took a swim at the pond,” he said.

In Tokyo, BCDA President Vivencio Dizon said he would investigate the incident. (Editor: Leti Boniol)