25 killed in Philippine flash flood
Baku, July 27 (AZERTAC). In the middle of darkness, young couple Roque Palomar and his wife Raciel paddled through the floodwater, desperate to bring themselves and their 3-month-old son, Mark Louie, to safety.
They grabbed anything that floated to help them through the flood. A banana trunk led them through a fruit tree across the rambling river. They never thought they would survive but clinging to the tree gave little relief, Raciel said.
"Our baby was crying and he was unstoppable," she said.
Four hours later, the crying stopped. Mark Louie was gone.
As of 2pm Wednesday (June 29), the couple were still in the dark and confused over what happened.
What's worse, hours after their village in Matina - called Arroyo Compound - was hit by a flash flood, the baby was still nowhere to be found.
The civil-military operations unit of the Philippines' 10th Infantry Division, quoting the city`s social services and development office, said the number of bodies recovered reached 25, and that 15 others remained missing as of 4:45pm on Wednesday.
Three of the bodies--a boy, a girl and an adult female--remained unidentified.
The Palomars had been out in the waters since past 11pm on Tuesday, after their shanty was engulfed by rampaging waters. The 23-year-old father closely held his son. Beside him was his 18-year-old wife. They are still searching for their son.
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