TACLOBAN CITY – A farmer in Las Navas town, Northern Samar province, was killed by his own carabao on Tuesday (May 14) afternoon, in an incident that local police described as the first of its kind in the town.
Alvin Pagaban, 42, was mauled to death by his carabao while tending to it in a creek located in Barangay Andres, 7.5 kilometers from the town proper.
“The victim was tending his carabao at the creek to let it dip in the river, but it suddenly attacked him vigorously, causing him to sustain multiple wounds,” said Police Staff Sergeant Rowenda Cesista, the case investigator at the Las Navas municipal police station, in a phone interview.
Pagaban, a resident of Brgy. Geguinta, was rushed to the town’s rural health unit by witnesses but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician, Cesista said.
“This is the first time we have encountered such a case. Perhaps the carabao was tired after a day’s work and was stressed due to the sweltering heat, which may have caused it to behave aggressively and attack the farmer,” the police officer explained. The incident happened around 5 p.m.
According to Cesista, the farmer used his carabao to transport his palay produce in addition to its work in the rice fields. The carabao remains in the possession of his family, Cesista added.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
