Two girls, aged nine and eight, were found dead in the Abatan River in Maribijoc town on Sunday afternoon, an hour after they were swept by current while swimming at the river.

Staff Sgt. Felix Quibol of the Maribojoc Police Station said the two victims were swimming in Sitio Bato, Barangay Cabawan with two other underage girls and were unsupervised when the drowning incident happened.

“Upat ni sila kabata nangaligo mga minors. Nilikaw sa ilang bay na wa makapananghid sa ilang mga ginikanan,” said Quibol.

The girls at around 3 p.m. were initially wading at a shallow portion of the river near the riverbank but two of them accidentally crossed into the deeper portion of the water causing them to be swept by strong current.

“Kaning suba sa Abatan, dako ni unya sug man gud ni siya. Daplin ani mabaw unya mo kalit ra ni siya og kalawm,” said Quibol.

The two other girls were uninjured and immediately asked for help from residents in the area who in turn alerted the police.

The remains of the victims were found some 30 meters away from where they were swimming more than an hour after they were swept by the water.

Quibol said they found the bodies three feet underwater.

“Amo silang na pull out mga 4:30 p.m., patay na, lagom na kaayo wa na ma revive,” he added.

According to Quibol, the girls’ houses were just near the river.

There were other people fixing pumpboats in the area initially but they left to eat lunch leaving the girls alone in the river. (A. Doydora)