Body of tourist found under river boulder

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The body of the tourist who went missing when the raft she was riding capsized three days ago, has been found Sunday morning.

Roldan Kaamiño, one of the owners of the Kagay Journey-White Water Rafting and Kayaking, confirmed that the body of female adventure tourist Aizza Mae Balbin was found in Barangay (village) Bayanga.

Balbin, a nurse from Loboc, Bohol, went missing when the raft she was riding on capsized on Friday.

Balbin’s body was recovered by seven Kagay river guides around 11:45 a.m. Her body was lodged underneath a boulder in what rafters call an undercut—a section of the river where rapids hit a large obstruction creating a vacuum which in this case is about 14 to 20 feet deep.

Kaamiño said guides had to clear and scoop out other debris before they were able to find the body, first finding the helmet which had gotten loose.

Three relatives of the victims, who arrived here Sunday morning, witnessed the recovery of the body, which was later brought to a local funeral home for an autopsy.

Marjorie Parades, a cousin of the victim, said Balbin’s body would be cremated as her mother wishes to remember her as she was when she was still living.

The victim’s mother, Ruth, works at the municipal treasurer’s office of Loboc. Her father, George, is bedridden and brain dead due to injuries from a vehicular accident in 2005. George is a former music teacher at the Holy Name University in Tagbilaran City. Aizza has one other sibling, a 23-year-old brother who works in an aircraft maintenance firm in Abu Dhabi.

Kaamiño said transportation and other expenses, including funeral, would be shouldered by the city government and Kagay.

Kagay’s owners—Kaamiño, Chisum Factura and Rolly John Barrett, will also accompany Aizza’s remains to Bohol. JB Deveza, Inquirer Mindanao