Contaminated water seen in deaths of 3 children

General Santos City— Three children are dead and at least 200 people have fallen ill after drinking what is believed to be contaminated water in their village in Maasim, Sarangani, authorities on Tuesday said.

Jaileen Majar, health officer of Maasim, said an outbreak of diarrhea had been declared in the village of Tinoto as the number of diarrhea cases kept on increasing since the first cases were reported a week ago.

The children who died were five years old and younger, she said.

The municipal hospital in Maasim is now crowded with patients, who sought medical treatment after suffering from the illness, she said.

The hospital, however, could not accommodate all the patients because of the sheer number of those who had been stricken ill. Many of the patients had to be kept in makeshift beds outside the hospital.

While Majar said the municipal health office had taken water samples for tests, the village chief of Tinoto, Rajik Kudarat, advised residents to boil water for at least 10 minutes before drinking it.

Kudarat said a state of calamity had been declared in his village to give officials access to calamity funds that would be used to buy medicines for sick villagers. He said village officials had also launched a cleanliness drive. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao