Police have ruled out foul play in the death of a welder, who fell into an abandoned well in Barangay Panadtaran, San Fernando, on Saturday. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 30-year-old welder fell into an abandoned well in Barangay Panadtaran in San Fernando town, south Cebu.
He was already dead when rescuers found him at about 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 30.
Police Corporal Mario Paul Pino, investigator of the San Fernando Police Station, ruled out a possible foul play in the death of Felixberto Briones, a native of Carcar City.
Pino said Briones’ family also refused to have his body undergo an autopsy saying that they were convince that he died in an accident.
LOOK: A welder from Carcar City died after he fell into an abandoned well San Fernando town
Nobody knows exactly what time the accident happened, Pino said.
They learned during their investigation that Briones went missing on Saturday afternoon. His co-workers started to look for him at about 4 p.m.
“Wala gyud syay gistorya nga gipananghiran kay we believe at that time man gud nag trabaho siya. Duda namo nag break to siya. Amoa gyud pangagpas nganong naabot sya didto, more or less kay nag cr to sya,” Pino said.
(He did not inform anyone where he was going because we believe that he was supposed to be at work that time. We could only surmise that he took a break. And the reason why he reached the area was to answer the call of nature.)
Thinking that he may have responded the call of nature, Pino said, one of Briones’ co-workers started searching the bushes near the construction site where the abandoned well was located.
“Known gyud to dapita nga ang mga tawo didto dito mag cr, mangihi. Labong to, ang wa masuhito didto dapita kuyaw ma hulog didto,” he added.
(The area is a go to place for people who wanted to either urinate or defecate. And because of the presence of fully grown bushes there, it was always possible for people, who are not familiar with the area, to fall into the well.)
According to Pino, the said co-worker found one of the slippers that Briones wore floating on the well, which raised suspicions that he may have fallen there.
Pino said that Briones’ employer visited their police station at about 8 p.m. on Saturday to report the incident and seek help.
Personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in San Fernando town and Carcar City were sent to the area to initiate a search and rescue operation. But Briones was already dead when found an hour later or at about 9 p.m.
It was possible that Briones lost consciousness from the fall after his head hit something hard. He may have later on drowned after water level at the well started to rise, Pino said.
“Siguro namatay gyud to siya gumikan kay nalunod siya sa tubig. Tabay na siya nga lalom kaayo. Bana bana sa mga tawo didto kay nitaub man kuno, basin nisaka to ang tubig unya paghunas gisuyup ang lawas didto sa may suksok,” Pino added.
(Maybe he drowned, the reason for his death. The well is very deep. People in the area suspect that because of the high tide, water level at the well started to rise. When the tide receded, his body was found deep in the well.)
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