3 days past and the search continues to find body of 16-yr-old boy who drowned in La Trinidad

La Trinidad, Benguet – The body of a 16-year-old boy who drowned in a river along the section of Lubas-Balili in La Trinidad, Benguet, on Sunday, September 1, has still not been found by authorities three days since the incident.

Initial report from the La Trinidad Municipal Station stated that the victim was with six others when the drowning transpired. Accordingly, one of the victim’s friends celebrated his birthday that day, and they decided to go to the river.

Meanwhile, in his interview with the media, Mayor Romeo Salda relayed that the victim's companions had different testimonies as to why the victim drowned.

According to the mayor, some of them said that the victim dived into the river; others said that three of them almost drowned and it was only the victim who was not able to save himself, while the others were unaware of what had happened because they were drunk at that time.

As of this writing, the search and rescue operation is still being done to recover the teenager’s body. The rescuers are having a hard time finding the body due to the continued rains.

With the incident, residents are advised to avoid going to the river in the meantime as rain continues to add volume and strengthen the river’s water current.