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Friday, June 08, 2007
2 youngsters die in Carmen town mudslide
CEBU CITY -- A mudslide cut short an end-of-summer picnic in Carmen town Thursday, killing two teenagers and hurting 13 others who were celebrating their victory in a recent dance contest.
Cousins Christine and Geneve Beduya, both 19, were buried by mud together with another cousin, Jonathan Alfahura, 33. They were chatting in a cottage at the foot of a 30-foot hill when the mud crashed down on them in Barangay Lower Natimao-an, Carmen around 1 p.m.
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Their friends needed 15 minutes, using their bare hands and some shovels brought by nearby residents, to dig the three cousins out of the knee-deep mud.
“When we reached the area, the kids were still searching for their friends. We helped and we retrieved the two Beduyas but they were already dead,” said SPO1 Joselito Jopia, leader of a three-man team dispatched from the Carmen Police Station.
Alfahura still had a pulse when they pulled him out from the muck, said Jopia.
Rodel Tolintin said they were preparing their food when the accident struck. They had organized the picnic to enjoy the last days of their vacation, before going back to school on Monday.
“Sila si Christine ug Geneve nagtapad na ug lingkod pagkahugno sa yuta. Si Jonathan nagbarog, nagsige ug pangomedya,” he said. (Christine and Geneve sat side by side. Jonathan stood near them, telling jokes, when the mud fell.)
Carmen Mayor Virginio Villamor will order the closure of the Mangitngit Falls to visitors, after Thursday’s mudslide.
For years, he said, many visitors from all over Cebu have been to the falls for picnics and swimming, but the town has not officially made it a tourist spot.
The place is not yet developed and the town does not earn from it, he added. Apparently, no lifeguard watches over the area.
The mayor sent his social welfare officer to the scene, as well as to the hospital where the victims were brought. He also coordinated with the Provincial Social Welfare Office, for further assistance.
It was the first time a mudslide was reported in the vicinity of the Mangitngit Falls, and residents blamed a heavy rain that lasted at least two hours on the night before the accident.
The picnickers, mostly residents of Barangay Juan Luna in Danao City, agreed last Wednesday to hold a picnic at the falls, about five kilometers from the main highway.
They intended to use the cash prize they won in a cultural dance contest during Danao City’s Charter Day celebration.
Before the tragedy, they had a brief warning.
“Nagsige ug pangatagak ang yuta gikan sa ibabaw sa bungtod pero gibalewala lang namo. Pagkataud-taud nahunlak gyod ang bungtod (Some bits of rock and soil kept falling from the hill, but we thought nothing of it. Moments later, part of the hill just collapsed),” survivor Ronald Tolintin, 23, told Sun.Star Cebu.
He and the others who only suffered minor bruises helped dig for the Beduyas and Alfahura.
A motorcycle (locally known as “habalhabal”) is the only means of public transportation in getting to Mangitngit Falls.
Four cottages on the surrounding property reportedly belonged to Municipal Councilor-elect Gerard Villamor, the mayor’s son.
Tolintin said that because there were people in the other cottages, they decided to occupy the one nearest to the falls, for P150. The entrance fee is P10 per person.
Alfahura, his cousin Cynthia and Agustin Gonzales, both 17, received treatment at the Danao District Hospital before they were transferred to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, some 41 kilometers away from the northern town.
The others, suffering only minor injuries, went home.
Carmen Police Chief Joel Abuan said the headquarters learned about the accident at 1:20 p.m. and immediately sent a team there. (AIV/With MBG of Sun.Star Cebu & DRT of Superbalita)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (June 8, 2007 issue)
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