Seven members of a Philippines dragon boat team were killed on September 25 when their boat was overturned in the water off the island of Boracay as they were training for an upcoming international tournament, as per reports.
The incident that caused the death of the rowers happened after the large waves immersed the boat as the wooden structure got overturned killing four male and three female members. There were 14 other members in the boat who were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment. Out of the two women were from China and Russia.
Local disaster officer Catherine Ong Fulgencio told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the deaths might have happened due to the presence of many rocks in the water body which is why they could not swim to the nearest sea beach which was half a kilometer away.
"There are many rocks in the area so it's possible that they hit their head on them," local disaster officer Catherine Ong Fulgencio told AFP.
The government weather forecasters stated that moderate rain was expected in the region on Wednesday but the weather in that particular region is subjected to sudden changes.
The rowers were training for a tournament called the Kaohsiung City Cup which is scheduled to start in November in Taiwan.
Dragonboat racing is very much popular in many parts of Asia. It is also a popular sport in the Philippines where domestic tournaments are also organised. The sport requires the involvement of 20 paddlers in a team as they sit on top of a wooden boat which is 12 metres long and there is coxswain who is responsible for steering the boat.
