TACLOBAN CITY- A 13-year old boy and his younger sister were drowned in a river in Palo, Leyte on Wednesday afternoon while he tried to rescue her who was playing a paper boat.
The young fatalities were identified as John Israel Pedrosa, a Grade 7 student at the Palo National High School and his younger sister Jasmin Ieon, 7, a Grade 1 pupil at the Tacuranga Elementary School.
Chief Inspector Joselito Villas, police chief of the Palo Municipal Station, said that based on their investigation, the incident took place at about 3:30 pm on Wednesday in sitio Kantuklin, Barangay Tacuranga of said town.
“Based on our investigation, the young girl was playing a paper boat when she accidentally slipped into the river. Her elder brother, who was with her at that time, tried to rescue her but he too was drowned with his sister,” Villas, in a phone interview, said.
At the time, the river was swollen due to the incessant rains brought by the tail of a cold front.
The dead bodies of the two were recovered on Thursday morning far from where they were last seen, Villas said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
