A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl drowned in a deep well in Barangay Dayhagon, Medellin, Cebu, on Saturday morning, September 2.

Police identified the fatality as Joan Dumuram Rivera.

Before the incident, Joan was with her mother Erlinda, who was doing the laundry for her neighbor Nida Yuson.

Around 8 a.m., Erlinda looked for her daughter as they were about to eat their breakfast at Yuson's house.

Erlinda sought the help of her neighbors in locating her daughter. Some of them went to the river, but they could not find Joan.

Joan's cousin, Alfe Arcillas, went to the deep well where Erlinda was washing the clothes.

Alfe noticed the well's cover, a galvanized iron sheet, was not properly placed.

He got a piece of wood and placed it on the water to feel if there was someone below. When the tip of the wood hit something, he bent and retrieved the body.

Joan was rushed to Cebu Provincial Hospital in Bogo City, where she was declared dead. (SunStar Cebu)