Cebu pupil swept down raging river found dead

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CEBU CITY, Philippines—A 12-year-old elementary student was found dead Friday afternoon, a day after he was swept by raging river waters in Liloan town, Cebu, the police said.

The police identified the fatality as Daryl Yuson, a Grade 5 pupil and one of the dancers of the Rosquillos Festival, scheduled on May 28.

Yuson was found at a portion of the river in Sitio (settlement) Casantos, Barangay (village) Cabadiangan in Liloan, two kilometers from where he and fellow dancer Nestor Jocutmaya, 11, were swept away in nearby Barangay Mulao around 3 p.m. on Thursday.

However, Jocutmaya, a son of a barangay councilor, was rescued by their companions.

Liloan Police Station deputy chief Police Inspector Socrates Medillo said Yuson, Jocutmaya and other Rosquillos dancers were rehearsing their dance in Barangay Mulao when they decided to go to the river.

Medillo said Yuson and Jocutmaya went swimming in the river while the other children remained at the riverbank.

Later, one of their companions at the riverbank saw the raging waters barreling down the mountainside and alerted the two.

Medillo said Jocutmaya immediately positioned himself at the top of the rock but Yuson failed to do so and was swept away.

Since the water was getting deeper, the other children grabbed a vine and used it to pull Jocutmaya to safety.

Medillo said policemen and barangay officials in Mulao immediately conducted a search, until at 12:50 p.m. Friday, when Mulao barangay captain Ben Tanjay informed them they found the body of Yuson at the portion of the river in Sitio Casantos.