San Juan cop drowns during dive training

MANILA, Philippines - An official of a special unit of the San Juan City police drowned while undergoing diving training in Mabini, Batangas yesterday morning.

Senior Inspector Renato Samson, 36, acting chief of the San Juan City Police’s Special Reaction Unit, died while being taken to the Mabini General Hospital. The SRU is the equivalent of the Special Weapons and Tactics unit.

According to the city police’s official website, Samson is the current commander of the San Juan City Police Station 7 and SRU.

Inspector Florintino Buenafe, deputy chief of the Mabini police, said the incident occurred around 9 a.m. while Samson and eight other policemen were scuba diving in waters off Barangay Ligaya.

Buenafe said the group arrived in the area Saturday night for their two-day training and was on the last dive before heading home.

He added that Samson’s companions said he had a problem with his training gear shortly after a dive and that he panicked.

Samson’s companions eventually managed to pull him out of the water and brought him to the hospital, Buenafe said.