By MIKE U. CRISMUNDO
CAMP COLONEL RAFAEL C. RODRIGUEZ, Butuan City – A motorized banca carrying a number of tourists capsized off the waters of Sohoton, Barangay Sudlon, in Socorro town (Bucas Grande), Surigao del Norte 9 a.m. on Good Friday , a flash report sent to the police regional headquarters here on Black Saturday stated.
Initial report received by the command and tactical operations center at Northeastern Mindanao Police Regional Office 13 (PRO 13) based here said the boat had 27 passengers apart from the motor boat operator and two crew men.
Initial investigation conducted by Sohoton police said the banca capsized while unloading passengers.
“They were all excited to disembark and they moved forward to the passengers’ side instead of passing one by one at the center of the boat causing it to capsize,” said a Sohoton policeman who refused to be identified.
Thankfully, all of the passengers including the operator and his crew men were rescued uninjured by Sohoton Police.
Some of the rescued passengers were brought to the town’s medical clinic for medical attention, but were all promptly released.
The boat’s passengers were local tourists from Panabo City who were planning to spend the Lenten Break in Siargao Island.
