DAVAO CITY – Citing bad weather, officials of the Davao City Disaster Risk Response and Management Office (CDRRMO) past noon Monday, September 15, announced a temporary pause of the search and rescue efforts for at least three more victims (not seven as earlier reported) of Sunday’s flashfloods.
City rescue teams had initially recovered the bodies of four flash flood victims which hit barangays Tamayong and Carmen near the popular Mini-Asik Asik Falls before heavy rains endangered rescue efforts Monday afternoon.
At least five individuals were swept away by strong currents at the Mini-Asik-Asik around 1:30 PM, Sunday, during a family outing. Floodwaters swept three others in another area in Tamayong, reports said.
Rescue units began converging in the vicinity of Mini-Asik-Asik at around 2 PM Sunday, according to Barangay Carmen chief Socrates R. Estomata.
Rescue teams were able to lead 12 individuals to safety, mostly residents of Buhangin and Agdao out on a day trip at the popular waterfalls.
Just before the suspension of the rescue efforts, officials said the bodies of two females, described as a 12-year-old and a 29-year-old from Barangay Buhangin , were retrieved. Both females were part of the group of 5 swept at the Asik-Asik falls.
The 12-year-old female was found along the Talomo River Channel in Barangay Malagos at 7:26 AM and the 29-year-old was recovered by Barangay Mintal officials at around 1 PM along Tapay Street in downstream Mintal, officials said.
Two more, a 47-year-old male and an 11-year-old male from Tamayong, were also recovered according to officials. Both were found in Riverside and Campo Singko in Calinan at about noon Monday.
It was not immediately clear whether the two males were swept together or were swallowed by floodwaters at different times.
Officials said all the victims were likely carried by raging flood waters for many kilometers downstream before being found more than 12 hours later in five different barangays along the Talomo River Channel.
MindaNews has the names of the victims but will refrain from releasing them pending confirmation from officials that the respective families have been informed.
For its part, officials of Barangay Carmen reminded future visitors to always coordinate with local government units for safety bulletins and said the popular spot is still closed to the public in the aftermath of Sunday’s floods.
Mini-Asik Asik Falls, so-called after a Cotabato namesake, is a spot made popular by vloggers.
The spot is not officially a tourist destination as the location is hazardous due to it being landslide and flashflood prone.
But the spot has repeatedly drawn visitors for its curtain-like waterfalls which has strong social media appeal.
The waterfalls also features a little island in the middle of a pool of water where tourists could shoot videos on normal days.
In one viral video however, some individuals can be seen seemingly trapped by rising and raging flood waters. The video was said to have been taken Sunday.
But it is unclear whether the people in the viral video are the missing or retrieved individuals reported by authorities.
(Yas D. Ocampo, with reports from Alyssa Ilaguison)
