TACLOBAN CITY- Two pieces of debris suspected to be from an aircraft were separately found on the beaches of Mercedes and Guiuan towns, both in Eastern Samar province.
In Mercedes, such wreckage was said to have been beached off the waters in Barangay Anuron, Juvimar Lira, a resident of the said village, said.
Lira, in a phone interview, said that the wreckage was seen in the area five days ago by some local fishermen in Anuron, which faces the Pacific Ocean.
“When I saw them, they were trying to tinker the debris, probably for profit. I told them not to touch it and instead report it authorities,” the 33-year old businessman said.
He said the item should be turn over to proper authorities for them to conduct investigation to really determine on the wreckage found on the shore.
On Thursday (August 6), local police together with personnel from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and local police came to the area to inspect the debris.
There was no illegal contraband found by the PDEA while the CAAP has not yet determine if the debris was from an airplane or from what part of an aircraft.
CAAP regional office based in the city has yet to issue a statement on this matter.
But Lira said that the debris was heavy as it took about 10 men to flip it over as he estimated that it could be around over 100 kilograms in weight and 3 x 4 meters in width. Some Chinese or Japanese characters were seen on the debris, he added.
Meanwhile, another similar debris was also in the waters in Brgy. Taytay, Guiuan, report reaching the regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police, said.
The said debris was found floating last July 27 by Nicanor Gagarin, 46 and resident of said village.
The item was said to have been secured by the Guiuan police.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
