2 kids drown in Maguindanao town river

MAGUINDANAO,  Philippines  ---- Two preschool children were drowned Tuesday after  being swept by flashfloods from  the Pulangi River in Pagalungan town in the province, as heavy rains have been pouring since Friday.

Responding barangay officials and policemen  recovered , after a five-hour search, from the river the floating cadavers of  the six-year-old girl and her three-year-old  sibling,  both ethnic Maguindanaons.

More than 10, 000 residents of Pagalungan and nearby Montawal town, also in Maguindanao, have evacuated to higher grounds after rivers  in the areas continued to rise  owing to  torrential rains over the weekend.

Policemen and barangay officials are still investigating  how the victims drowned.

The incident preceded the rescue by villagers of another child, initially identified only as Annie, who was also swept by flood while wading through waist-deep waters at a village in an interior district in Pagalungan.

The rescued child was rushed to a nearby makeshift relief site where she was given food and dry clothes.

Pagalungan and Montawal, both located in the second district of Maguindanao, are among more than a dozen low-lying towns in the province now inundated after the sudden rise of  water at the 220,00 hectare Liguasan Delta due to heavy rains. -  John Unson