BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Three persons, including a student, drowned while gathering seashells, or “kayog”, from the Himogaan River in Brgy. Paraiso, Sagay City, Negros Occidental Sunday, the police said.
P/Lt. Abundio Diaz, Sagay City deputy police chief, identified the victims yesterday as Jerry Maggada, 52, Dwins Diare, 21, a student of Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology, and Sandy Dorignel, 38, all residents of Sagay City.
Initial police investigations showed that the three victims were swept away by strong current while gathering seashells at about 2 p.m. Sunday.
The body of Maggada was retrieved by rescuers almost four hours after the incident, while the cadavers of Diare and Dorignel were recovered at about 7 to 8 a.m. yesterday some 18 feet below the surface, Diaz said. The victims’ two companions, identified as Freddie Nuyad and a certain Kimbert, survived the incident.*
