Grade 5 pupil dead in river

CEBU CITY—The body of a 12-year-old elementary school student was found on Friday, a day after he was swept by raging waters in a river in  Liloan town, Cebu.

Police identified the fatality as Daryl Yuson, a Grade 5 pupil.

Yuson was found in a portion of the river in Sitio Casantos, Barangay Cabadiangan, Liloan town, 2 kilometers from where he and fellow pupil Nestor Jocutmaya were swept by raging waters in nearby Barangay Mulao around 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Jocutmaya, 11, and son of a barangay councilor, was rescued by their companions.

Insp. Socrates Medillo, Liloan police deputy chief, said Yuson, Jocutmaya and other youngsters belonging to a dance group were rehearsing their dance in Barangay Mulao when they decided to visit the river.

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

One of the children saw raging waters coming and alerted Yuson and Jocutmaya.

Medillo said Jocutmaya quickly climbed a rock but Yuson was left in the river and swept away by the raging water.

Since the water kept rising, the other children held on to a vine and used it to pull Jocutmaya to safety.

Medillo said policemen and barangay officials in Mulao immediately conducted a search operation until 12:50 p.m. on Friday when Mulao barangay captain Ben Tanjay informed them that they found the body of Yuson in a portion of the river in Sitio Casantos, a small community in the village of Cabadiangan in Liloan town.