By AARON RECUENCO
Three children drowned while swimming in a river in Pototan, Iloilo this morning.
Police identified the victims as Rodelyn Moreno, 9, of Barangay Intaluan; Pototan, and siblings John Arnold, 10, and Arnold Penafiel, 6.
Police Staff Sgt. Raffy Gonzales, Pototan police investigator, said the victims were among several children fishing in a river in Barangay Intaluan.
“Some of them decided to swim alongside the river. It was then that the river had swollen and the three were carried to the deep part of the river,” said Gonzales.
The other children saw the victims having difficulty swimming back ran to their community and told authorities what happened.
Members of the Mountain Tigers, a civilian volunteer group, conducted rescue operations and managed to pull the children out of the water after about an hour.
The victims were taken to taken to the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan where they were declared dead.
