Negros Occidental boy, pupil die in separate accidents

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — A 3-year-old boy died after he was accidentally shot by his 2-year-old cousin in Barangay Bunga, Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, on Thursday.

A report from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office said the two minors found a firearm outside the victim’s house.

Believing it was a toy gun, they took it into the victim’s room and played with it.

Police said the cousin accidentally pulled the trigger and shot the boy in the chest.

The victim was taken to San Carlos Doctors Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Authorities withheld other details at the family’s request as they appealed for privacy while mourning.

In a separate incident, an 11-year-old Grade 5 pupil died after drowning in a river in Barangay Don Jorge L. Araneta, Bago City, on Thursday.

Investigators said the victim and his classmates had gone swimming in the river.

The boy, who did not know how to swim, was swept by the current into a deeper part of the river and drowned.

His classmates informed his grandmother, who sought help to rescue her grandson. He was later declared dead at a hospital.