Sunday, March 23, 2008 Waterfall leaps claim 2 lives
THE thrill of jumping from the top of a waterfall in the southwestern town of Badian, Cebu lost its appeal after it left two persons dead and three others wounded.
A group of Korean students who spent their Good Friday in Kawasan Falls in Barangay Matutinao had gone rafting around the falls when one of them decided to jump from the top.
Ryu Ho-Jun, 25, and his 12 classmates from the Cebu Pacific International Language School had already spent the day in the falls and were on their way home, when Ryu decided to have one last jump.
As he neared the edge, swimmers below called out to him and warned him to stop. This was because a bamboo raft with another group of Korean students was about to go under the falls.
Insp. Rodrigo Orbigozo, Badian police chief, said it was possible that Ryu did not understand what the swimmers were shouting to him. He probably thought they were egging him to jump.
Also, it would have been impossible to see the raft from where he was standing.
Ryu took the plunge, and landed directly on Lim Sang Guen, 24.
Also wounded were Lim’s companions, Leon Chang Sun, 22, and Chun Seong. The three, along with a female companion, are students of the Cebu Korean School.
They were rushed to the St. Peter Hospital in the neighboring town of Alegria.
Lim reportedly suffered a hemorrhage and died several minutes later.
Leon and Chun were transferred to a hospital in Cebu City, as one of them broke a pelvis while the other lost some teeth.
Police also took Ryu to the Badian District Hospital to be examined as he complained of pains in his insides.
Oribigozo said that someone who works for the South Korean consular office and an official for the local Korean community in Cebu asked that Ryu undergo further examination. Last Friday night, he was escorted to the Cebu Doctor’s Hospital in Cebu City.
The official from the consular office reportedly assured that Ryu will not leave.
He also said Lim’s parents are expected to arrive and decide if they want to press charges against Ryu for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
Orbigozo said another Korean national was able to shoot footage of the fall but declined to give him a copy.
Those who were able to view it said Ryu jumped feet first but then his body began tilt. He was in a horizontal position when he landed on Lim.
On Maundy Thursday, a man also jumped from the second level of the Kawasan Falls and failed to surface.
Nelson Wagas Tiro, 30, of Barangay Tayud, Liloan, and another friend had begun jumping from the second level of the falls to the pool below them.
On the third try, his friend wondered why Tiro did not come up to the surface with him.
A lifeguard found Tiro near the mouth of a cave beneath the falls.
They believe a strong current, which sometimes leads to the cave, pulled Tiro towards it. He was brought to the Badian District Hospital but doctors declared him dead.
A report submitted to the Cebu Provincial Police Office quoted witnesses as saying Tiro was under the influence of liquor.
Orbigozo said it is not a common practice to jump from the top of the falls.
However, he said, those who want to do that should at least inform the lifeguards around the falls so they can look out for the person and make sure it is safe for them to do so. (MEA)
