Man drowns while crossing Maguindanao river

SOUTH UPI,
Maguindanao (Sept. 2/NDBC) – Crossing major rivers even during heavy down pour
was common among indigenous peoples in this upland and visibly balding town in
Maguindanao.

Nilo Timuay, a
30-year-old farmer from the agricultural village of Kuya, has tried many times
crossing rivers amid its rampaging waters.

At past 3 p.m.
Monday, Timuay who was heading home to Sitio Ilac from the nearby Barangay
Gilagila market carrying with him his family’s food for the evening, when an
unexpected happened, according to Marlon Bansigan.

Bansigan, the
South Upi town disaster risk reduction and management council officer, said
Timuay tried to cross the Binuan river, its waters rampaging following a heavy
downpour hours earlier.

He has been
doing that daily,” Bansigan said in a phone interview. Crossing the river,
rain or shine, is normal for Timuay,” he added.

But while
Timuay was in the middle of the 60 meter-wide river, he was swept away by
rampaging flood waters with debris and boulders, Bansigan said, quoting
witnesses.

Bansigan said
a search and rescue team was immediately launched but was quickly called off
after 6 p.m. due to continuous rains.

The morning after,
residents near the spot where Timuay was last seen, found his lifeless body at
the river bank.

Maguindanao
had been experiencing moderate to heavy downpour as a result of low pressure
area east of Mindanao.

Last week, a boy
was killed while his parents and twin-sister were hurt when a landslide hit the
village of Blensong in North Upi, Maguindanao due to heavy rain.

Aside from
flash floods, the inclement weather also submerged at least 80 villages in
Maguindanao’s 12 municipalities, including government structures like bridges,
public schools and multi-purpose centers.

The phenomenon
displaced about 25,000 persons, disaster officials from the Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said. (NDBC)