MANILA, Philippines — A 15-year-old girl drowned Sunday after she and three others dared each other to go for an afternoon swim in a dangerous portion of a river in Antipolo.
The fatality was identified as Lounica Depaz, a high school student and a resident of Sitio Broadway in Barangay Dela Paz, Antipolo City.
Joey Marco, head of Antipolo’s rescue team, said the body of Depaz was found and fished out from the bottom of the river around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, nine hours after the girl was last seen by her friends.
Depaz and another companion were swept and swallowed by the raging waters. But unlike Depaz, her friend was quickly rescued by the others.
Marco said the search and retrieval operations conducted by the police and the Antipolo rescuers took a while as they began scouring the area just before the nightfall.
Marco said he learned that the victim’s friends have sought the help of the authorities four hours after she was swept away.
“Perhaps, they tried hard to look for her first before reporting the incident to us,” Marco said.
Marco said they have been warning the residents not to swim in that portion of the river called 15 Feet Waterfalls because many people had reportedly drowned there.