Body of grade school student retrieved from Pampanga town river

Rescue worlers retrieve the body of a drowning victim from a river in Arayat town, Pampanga. | PHOTO: Facebook page of Arayat municipal government

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga — Coast Guard officers and rescuers recovered on Sunday, Sept. 22, the body of one of the two male Grade 8 students who drowned in a river at Bitas village in Arayat town in Pampanga recently.

In a statement, the Arayat municipal government said Coast Guard officers and members of local government municipal disaster response offices from Arayat and Candaba worked together to find and retrieve the body.

The body of the first student was recovered a day earlier.

The municipal government said the two ill-fated public school students were seen playing along the riverbank.

According to the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team members, they had already warned the two students when they were last seen playing earlier near the scene of the incident.

They said the students left but likely returned when they saw that the community patrols continued their rounds.

Authorities said the victims were students of a public school in Camba
village, also in Arayat.

The municipal government appealed to parents to take good care of their children.

“Always watch over and observe them (children), especially now that it is the rainy season. If we know that we live near a river, stream, or drainage canal, let’s please discourage them from going near these areas to prevent incidents like this” it said. INQ