2 boys drown in Cebu river during heavy rains, strong winds

A scene of flooding after heavy rains in Cebu. (FILE PHOTO BY TONEE DESPOJO/Cebu Daily News

CEBU CITY — Heavy rainfall and strong winds caused two boys to drown at the Malubog river in Carmen town located 41.7 kilometers north of Cebu City, Sunday morning.

SPO2 Simplicio Gibo, desk officer of the Carmen municipal police precinct said John Lee Dayon, 3, and Mark Dayon, 5, were playing at the riverbank while it rained and were caught by floodwaters.

Residents of Barangay Ipil, located four kilometers away from Barangay Poblacion in Carmen town, claimed that a “buhawi” or whirlwind hit their area at 9 a.m. causing strong winds and heavy rainfall.

Heavy rainfall was also felt in parts of Metro Cebu area.  The state weather bureau PAGASA said rains were caused by the southwest monsoon.

Gibo said John Lee’s body was found entangled with the roots of a Dakit tree located a kilometer away from where he was playing.

It took relatives and neighbors almost five hours to locate Mark’s body that was entangled with the roots of a riverbank tree in the vicinity of Sitio Duwal-og in barangay Ipil at 1:40 p.m.

The two boys were already dead when brought to the provincial hospital in Danao City.  SFM