BACOLOD CITY – Rescuers here have suspended the search for a five-month-old baby who was swept by raging floodwaters after the house he was in fell off a riverbank.
Peter Sanchez, emergency medical services supervisor, told DNX the rescuers of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office have suspended their search as river currents grew stronger and as the night deepens.
The infant is the youngest son of the Bulak family in the sub-village of Malinong in Taculing village.
Sanchez said their office was informed by the local police that a house was swept away by riverwaters around 5pm when rain was pounding the city hard today.
Surviving relatives told responders at the incident site that the infant was in a makeshift hammock when the house he was in fell into the river after the soil of the riverbank collapsed. (READ also: “Waist-high” rainfall causes flooding in Bacolod City)
Rescuers searched for the baby downstream starting from where the house fell into the river near the Government Center.
When the rescuers reached the part of the river near Gonzaga Bridge several kilometers away, residents told them they saw a tin roof pass the area.
Night and the strong river current, however, has made the search difficult, prompting them to call it off.
Rescuers in Singcang Airport village, where the river drains into the sea, have been informed to keep an eye for the makeshift house.
