5 dead as boat capsizes in Pampanga

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—The bodies of five people  who were reported missing after their boat capsized in the Pampanga River in San Luis on Tuesday  were recovered by search teams on Wednesday, police said.

Senior Supt. R’Win Pagkalinawan, Pampanga police director, said a team of rescuers on Wednesday recovered from the Pampanga River the bloated bodies of Alvin Guevarra, 30, his sister Rhea, 33, and Guevarra’s children, Aldrey, 9, and Jovelyn, 8. Also recovered was the body of their relative, 9-year-old Nigel Lucero.

Pagkalinawan said the search was focused on the portion of the river across Barangay Sto. Tomas, where the accident happened at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. That part of the river was estimated to be 25 feet deep.

At the site were some 30 frogmen from the Pampanga and Bulacan provincial disaster risk reduction and management councils (DRRMCs), the Guagua municipal DRRMC, the police’s regional public safety unit and a rescue team from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

The search teams first found Alvin’s body at 7:15 a.m. Rhea’s body was next to be recovered at 12:48 p.m. The bodies of the three children were recovered about an hour after Rhea was found.

Rhea’s 14-year-old brother-in-law, Lienard Sieza, and Michael Galaredo, 34, survived by holding onto water hyacinths. They were taken to shore by fisherman Jesus Miranda.

The survivors said their group boarded a banca while it rained in the area. It capsized shortly after  and was filled with water, they told investigators.

The victims, all from Baesa, Quezon City, were in Pampanga to visit relatives.

Originally posted at 12:37 pm | Wednesday, April 10, 2013