A 16-YEAR-OLD girl died while her six friends were injured after they were swept away by rampaging waters in a river in Barangay Budlaan, Cebu City on Friday afternoon.
Joy Erlim Sayre, a resident of Barangay Subangdaku in Mandaue City, suffered injuries to her head and face as well as fractures in her arm, said PO3 Winston Ybañez, an investigator of the Cebu City Police Office’s Homicide Division.
She was retrieved and brought to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) by members of the Quick Reaction Team of the City’s Disaster Risk Reduction Office but physicians declared the girl dead on arrival.
Based on the investigation conducted by the police, Sayre went with her friends for a mountain trek in Budlaan Friday morning.
They proceeded to Linot-ug falls in Sitio Kambaog where they took their lunch.
Afterwards, the group decided to take a dip in the river.
At around 3 p.m., a strong surge swept them away.
“They held their arms together but Joy was taken by the strong current,” Ybañez said.
Two hours later, Sayre’s body was recovered floating on the river, about a kilometer away.
Ybañez said the girl’s body was subjected to autopsy. The results will be known today.