MANILA, Philippines - A motorboat carrying two Tawi-Tawi town mayors and three policemen capsized off Bongao town on Monday, resulting in the death of one of the cops, a police official said Tuesday.
Killed in the incident was SPO1 Sadjan Jal Palahuddin, who was assigned to the Sitangkai Municipal Police Station, according to Supt. Danilo Bacas, spokesman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Police.
Bacas said the boat was on its way to Bongao at around 10 a.m. on Monday when it was hit by a whirlpool at around one nautical mile off Pahut village in Bongao town, causing it to capsize and eventually sink.
Bacas said the incident left the five passengers Sitangkai Mayor Hadji Serbin Ahaja, Sibutu Mayor Kuyoh Pajili, PO2 Espin Gulam, PO1 Zansibar Muallila and Palahuddin floating in the sea for several minutes
The victims were rescued 30 minutes later by a group of fishermen who happened to pass by in the area, said Bacas.
Palahuddin, however, was already unconscious when they were picked up, prompting his companions to take him to the Datu Halan Sakilan Memorial Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
A report reaching Camp Crame in Quezon City stated that some of the personal belongings of the victims, as well as the three M16 rifles of the three policemen sank with the motorboat. - GMANews.TV