Young mom dies after being pinned by boulder

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A young mother died after she was crushed by a boulder near a quarry site at Dumangas, Iloilo on September 2, 2023.

Kesia Alimas, 19, met her death while doing dishes inside their house at Barangay Sulangan, Dumangas around 8 a.m. Saturday.

A rescue operation was immediately mounted to save her. But her body was retrieved four hours later.

While Kesia did not survive, her 5-month-old baby and her five younger half-siblings managed to get out of their house.

Chief Master Sergeant Kim John Banzon, Dumangas PNP chief investigator, said that Kesia was preparing breakfast before the incident and left her child in the care of her 14-year-old sister Denden.

It was Denden who noticed that rocks were falling off from the mountain near their house. She immediately carried the baby and told her four other siblings to go out of the house.

Banzon said the kids may have panicked and failed to check on their older sister.

“It was just a matter of seconds. A boulder then came crushing their kitchen,” he said.

At the time of the incident, Kesia’s mother and stepfather were at work.