By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD CITY – Three individuals, including two young construction workers, died after drowning in separate areas in Negros Occidental last Wednesday.
In Himamaylan City, two construction workers, both 19 years old from Talisay City and Bacolod, drowned in a river at Sitio Dumpsite, Barangay Buenavista.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Grande, city police chief, said the victims, along with two other companions, went to the area to bathe in the river around 7:30 a.m. One of them went swimming first but later called for help when he started drowning.
Grande reported that one of his companions tried to rescue him but was swept away by a strong current. Both of them submerged in the river, and their bodies were retrieved three hours later.
In Moises Padilla town, a 24-year-old laborer also drowned in a river at Sitio Napiluan, Barangay Quintin Remo.
According to the police, the victim was last seen having a drinking session in a sari-sari store from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. last Tuesday. He was later accompanied by his companion to borrow a lighter with a flashlight before going home alone.
The victim was found lifeless on a riverbank around 11 a.m. the following day.
