This is considered every traveller's nightmare. There are at least three people who went missing after flash floods in a river located in Majayjay resort. A tourist was right on time to take a video of some tourists who went trapped in the middle of the river that has been slowly engulfed in waters. Authorities are now conducting search and rescue operations to find the missing persons who were swept away by the raging waters.

Reports indicate that the three who went missing is a six-year-old child and two adults who were in the river when the flash flood suddenly occurs. The location of the incident struck at Dalitiwan Resort, which is a tourist destination that is on a mountain side at Barangay Ilayang, Banaga, Majayjay Laguna. The time of the incident was at around 4 p.m on June 4, 2016, which was on Friday where tourists took a weekend holiday.
Dalitiwan Resort in Majayjay
Dalitiwan resort owners previously warned tourists to stay away from the river, especially in the afternoon due to the risk of flash flooding. However, tourists still risked their safety by exploring the rough waters along the sides of the rivers. Some even splashed their way in the middle of the river. The tourists enjoyed swimming in the river until the afternoon when rain began pouring in the area, which saturated the mountains, allowing the water to go down through the stream with the help of gravity.

At first, tourists quickly went to safety when the rain starts pouring. The rain only lasted for about 30 minutes, but it is already long enough to saturate the slopes of the mountain. This period of rainfall is already significant for any catch basin to collect large quantities of cubic meters in order to fill a pond or to make a dry stream to life.

After 30 minutes of downpour, tourists thought that it is already safe for the area to occupy and continue their adventures along the river banks. Minutes after the rain stopped raining, more and more tourists arrived at the river. The water level of the river slowly starts to rise and the current got stronger and stronger. Most of the tourists quickly went back again to safety. However, there were some who became trapped in the middle of the river.

But other tourists were not lucky enough to escape the ravaging waters of the river. Tourists were clearly unaware of the dangers made by flash flooding until they experienced it themselves.

Watch the video below


As based on the video, there were several tourists who were provided with rubber lifebuoy in order to help save trapped victims who were trapped in the middle of the river. However, there are still some located far away from the sides of the river, which is difficult for the rescuers to offer their life buoys.

Notice that the color of the water turned dark brown as the water has been already carrying Earth debris that are mixed with sharp woods and other objects that are potentially hazardous to life.

Cheers were heard from the video that was taken by Raniel Cortez as was being posted from Facebook social media account. The video had a duration of at least 5 minutes.

The other three who were sitting on the rocks were unlucky as the raging waters further rose and swept them away.

The names of the missing persons in the area are Bryan Alimania, a 34-year-old father along with Cristine Altea Alimania, which is his 6-year-old daughter. The other missing person is Vanessa Carillo, a 33-year-old woman.

The 6-year-old daughter who was drowned was then found dead while the two missing persons were still being searched by the authorities.

Majayjay, Laguna is famous for its hot springs and known locally as the hot spring capital of the country. The province is known to be geologically active as it is situated in an area where there are dormant volcanoes, providing tourism opportunities for local and foreign travelers.

Local weather bureau warned tourists to avoid traveling to places known to be hazardous to safety such as flash floods.

During the rainy season, isolated rains and thunderstorms are now a normal occurrence as the climate is now experiencing the monsoon season. There will be more rains that can be felt during the afternoon after the heat in the atmosphere starts to condense towards the Earth's surface.

Hence, flash flooding along the rivers is considered normal occurrences, making more risks to any tourists who will be similarly taking a splash to the rivers.




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