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[av_heading heading=’Mishap kills tugboat crewmen in Semirara’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY STEPHEN LOUIE CHECA
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CALUYA, Antique – Three crewmen of a tugboat died while inspecting a barge at a pier in Barangay Semirara, police said.
Apprentice mate John Paul Dujali, 21, and bargemen Paulino Mutyangpili, 28, and Aemiell Baunsit, 27, were declared dead at the SMPC (Semirara Mining and Power Corp.) Hospital in Sitio Naga.
They suffocated after inhaling toxic gas and drowned, police said, citing the attending physician Dr. Ma. Thessa Carla Mae Passion.
They were crewmen of MT Phite, which is owned by the Makati City-based DMC Construction and Equipment Resources, Inc. The company has yet to comment on the incident as of this writing.
Mutyangpili was a native of Tingloy, Batangas, but currently staying in Sitio Bigo, Barangay Alegria. Dujali was from Occidental Mindoro, while Baunsit was from Bohol.
While inspecting the barge SB Alexi around 11 a.m. on Sept. 14 at the Mayflower Pier,the three — along with fellow crewmen Jayson Caguete, Patrick Nerquit and Troy Panagsagan — opened a manhole to check the seawater down the vacuum tank, police said.
Dujali went down but accidentally slipped and fell. Baunsit and Mutyangpili tried to rescue their crewmate but fell, too.
Their companions called their chief engineer, identified only as a certain “Canoy,” who wore a scuba to retrieve the crewmen from inside the tank.
Police said the surviving crewmen called an ambulance and tried to revive their colleagues while waiting, but to no avail.
Senior Inspector Frankie Gatila, municipal police station chief, said they found no foul play./PN
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