Disaster struck in Boracay as seven paddlers from the Boracay Dragon Force died when their boat capsized about three hundred meters away from shore Wednesday.
The Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF), the national sports organization of the country, expressed their sympathy through a letter.
According to the statement, Boracay Dragon Force was preparing for an international tournament Wednesday morning off the shore at Sitio Lingganay in Barangay Manoc-Manoc when seawater started entering the 20-seater boat as it was hit by strong waves which caused it to capsize. The team was set to compete in Taiwan.
The Philippine Dragon Boat Federation expresses its deepest sympathy to the Boracay Dragon Boat Team after seven of the 21 members on board died in the waters of Sitio Lingganay in Barangay Manoc-Manoc, Boracay Island. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/uJqY5RJkju
— ESPN5 (@Sports5PH) September 25, 2019
The Philippine Coast Guard responded and this resulted to the rescue of the 14 other members of the team. There were four male and three female team members who perished while there were seven male and seven female paddlers, including a Chinese and Russian, who survived.
The PDBF reiterated their encouragement for the use of personal floatation devices during training to "avoid incidents that lead to unnecessary loss of life or sustenance of injury."
According to a statement released by the Philippine Coast Guard, their personnel of Coast Guard Sub-Station (CGSS) Boracay rendered search and rescue operations on the capsized dragon boat at around 7:40 a.m.
They also noted the the identification of the victims will be withheld for the next 24 hours until the next of kin have been notified.
The rescued victims were brought to Saint Gabriel Hospital for medical attention.