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Caasi drowned while swimming together with two other members of the Mindanao Alliance Mountaineering Club of Davao City, namely Ernesto Arluz and Jeffrey Parantar.
The rescuers claimed cold temperature and zero visibility around Lake Venado delayed the retrieval operation.
Chief Insp. Leo Ajero, Kidapawan City chief of police, said the helicopters that carried the rescuers’ gadgets could not land in the lake’s vicinity due to thick fog.
He said they requested two helicopters and divers from the PAF but that the mist forced the pilots to land instead in Barangay Ginatilan.
He said the divers had to use rubber boats in going to the center of Lake Venado where they finally found Caasi’s remains buried in a muddy portion.
The police official thanked the rescuers from Cotabato City, Davao del Sur and the local 505 Search and Rescue Team who stayed in the area and assisted the scuba divers in recovering the victim’s body.
Caasi’s remains will be embalmed at the Collado Funeral Parlor in Kidapawan City prior to transport to his home in Davao City. (Williamor A. Magbanua/MindaNews)