Authorities recover bodies of two students

The bodies of two children who went missing after swimming in a beach in Barangay Calajoan, Minglanilla were found yesterday morning.

Emergency responders from three local government units and one government agency recovered the bodies of Seigfred Sagadsad and Jian Andre Villegas Catarino, both nine years old. They were found in two coastal barangays just before noon yesterday.

Myrrha Daven, Minglanilla local disaster officer, told SunStar Cebu that they found Sagadsad floating in a mangrove plantation in Barangay Tungkil at 10:50 a.m. yesterday.

Barangay Tungkil is less than a kilometer away from Barangay Calajoan, where the two kids were last seen.

Rescuers then brought Sagadsad’s body to the rural health center in Barangay Poblacion Ward 1 for proper identification.

Two hours later, Catarino’s body was recovered less than 200 meters away from where he last seen in Barangay Calajoan.

Julius Regner, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) information officer, said that patrolling rescuers found Catarino’s body.

Hours before Sagadsad’s body was found, rescuers from Minglanilla and the cities of Talisay and Naga had to suspend their search several times yesterday due to some problems.

Daven told SunStar Cebu that the search for the two boys was difficult due to sea conditions.