Grade 11 student drowns trying to save classmate in river

An 18-year-old student drowned in the Marikina River in Pasig City after strong currents swept him into deeper waters while he was trying to help a classmate retrieve a basketball, police said.

The incident occurred at around 9 a.m. on Thursday, 22 October, along Rosario Boulevard Hunter, ROTC, Barangay Rosario, according to the Pasig City Police Station.

Initial police investigation showed that the student was playing basketball with several classmates near the riverbank when their ball accidentally fell into the river.

One of his classmates jumped into the water to retrieve the ball, prompting the victim to enter the river to help.

The classmate managed to reach the shoreline safely, but the victim was swept by the strong current toward a deeper section, where he submerged and disappeared from view.

At around 11:15 a.m. on 22 October, personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard's Marikina and Maybunga Ferry Terminal sub-stations, the Bureau of Fire Protection's Bambang unit and the Rosario police sub-station launched a joint search and rescue operation.

The operation ended at around 3:45 p.m. without recovering the student.

The following day, the victim's family and friends spotted what appeared to be a human body floating in the river and alerted the Coast Guard.

Two Coast Guard teams responded to the report and retrieved the body at around 1:57 p.m. on Friday, 23 October.

The Pasig City Police Station extended its condolences to the victim's family and urged the public to exercise caution near rivers, particularly in areas with strong currents and deep waters.