2 girls drown in Pampanga River

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—Two girls drowned in the Pampanga River in Apalit, Pampanga, on Wednesday, police said.

This happened a day after five people, three of them children, drowned in the river’s portion in San Luis town, some 15 kilometers east of Apalit.

Supt. Homer Penecilla, Apalit police chief, said rescuers had yet to recover the bodies of Lolita Mandap, 13, and Khaela Rufino, 12, who were swept away by the river current in Barangay (village) Sulipan at 2:55 p.m.

He said rescue teams suspended the search at 7:30 p.m.

Penecilla said the girls went to the river on Wednesday afternoon hoping to learn to swim with their friends. But the girls struggled to stay afloat when they reached a deep portion of the river, he said.

The San Luis drowning brought to 21 the number of drowning victims in Pampanga since August 2012, when heavy rains triggered floods that drained to the Pampanga River, records from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed.