MANILA, Philippines—A man was who was testing if he could outmaneuver the rampaging water of Tullahan River in Valenzuela City drowned, Radyo Inquirer 990 AM reported.
Tullahan bridge. File photo from wikimapia
The body of Noel Abalos, an employee of a plastic-manufacturing company, was found near the Tullahan river banks on Jacinto Street in Barangay Marulas.
The La Mesa Dam in Quezon City reached its spilling level amid storm-enhanced monsoon rains on Monday prompting officials to open its floodgates.
The water from the reservoir goes directly into Tullahan River, which flows through the cities of Malabon and Valenzuela.
Clad in green shirt and yellow-violet short pants, the 25-year-old Abalos, resident of Barangay 163 in Caloocan City, was found Tuesday with bruises and contusions on his face and other parts of his body.
The cousin of the victim told Radyo Inquirer 990 AM that Abalos jumped off the hanging bridge near the swollen Tullahan River to test if he could swim through but was swept away by its strong current.
This was not the first time that Abalos tried to “test the waters” as he did the same stunt during the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 but he “luckily survived,” his cousin added.
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