Boy swept away by flood found dead after 3 days

CEBU, Philippines — Missing for three days in the aftermath of heavy flooding of General Maxilom Avenue last Tuesday night, a 14-year-old boy was finally searched and retrieved yesterday from a creek under the Rahman Bridge in Barangay Zapatera -- lifeless.

The boy was identified as Hansel Dayondon by his grandmother, Lucia Marivelles.

Marivelles said her grandson was sleeping under the bridge Tuesday and may have only awaken by the flood when the waters were already too deep for him.

“Nakatug ang bata diha sa may taytayan. Wala nakamata kuyog sa iyang mga barkada. Pagkamata niya, dako na kaayo ang baha,” she said.

The grandmother was not also able to check on her teenage grandson right away as she was also securing her younger grandchildren who, like Hansel, are also street dwellers in Cebu City. They are natives of Carcar City.

The grandmother said the teenager did not ask permission from his mother in Carcar when he returned to the city.

Mayor Edgardo Labella personally met with the grandmother and promised to give assistance to the family for burial and other needs.

The city’s disaster team, Bureau of Fire Protection and other members of the retrieval operation took hours to find the missing boy due to obstructions, including debris and the structures of some buildings near the area.

Hansel is the third fatality reported in Cebu City due to last Tuesday’s flooding. The other two were residents of Sitio Creekside in Lorega-San Miguel and Sitio Bakilid in Busay. — JMD (FREEMAN)