OLONGAPO CITY — Three children, who had gone swimming with their friends in a river here, drowned on Thursday (Feb. 25), police said.
Alexander Generale, 9; Josh Mark Fernandez, 11; and Emmanuel Tabuyoc, 11, jumped into a section of the river that was about 10-foot deep at 11 a.m., said SPO2 Carmelito Mayo, an investigator of police station 2 here.
Despite the efforts of one of their friends to rescue them, the children disappeared into the water that had swollen up due to a dredging operation along the riverbank, Mayo said.
The drowned children were all residents of Barangay (village) New Ilalim in this city.
Police and rescuers responded to the call for help and rushed the children to the hospital but the victims were declared dead on arrival. SFM