The Tale of Two Deaths in Taguig - Is it Really a Freak Accident?

No foul play - this is the statement from the police referring to the deaths of Dayne Buenaflor and James Naraga of Brgy. Wawa in Taguig City. The two children were found yesterday inside a car in a parking compound in the same area. Autopsy and forensic reports conducted both by the SOCO and NBI say that the cause of death was severe dehydration and that both the deceased did not sustain any other injuries.

According to reports, the parking compound owned by a certain Leonardo Valenzuela  is near the victims' houses and this is where the two boys, along with other children in the neighborhood, usually spent their playtime. Investigators theorized that Naraga and Buenaflor were separated from their playmates and were able to get inside the car and locked themselves in.

From what I've gathered from various news reports, there were several factors which worked against these poor kids.

First, the car was heavily tinted so passersby and even people peering into it would have a hard time seeing what's inside. The mother of one of the victims claimed that they had looked inside the car during their initial search had seen no one. She might have peered inside but did not open the car's doors.

Second, the CCTV of the barangay hall - which is across the parking compound - has not been working since the kids went missing four months ago on Holy Wednesday.  CCTV recordings might have proved helpful during the earliest stages of the search for the missing boys.

Third, the car (a black Mercedes Benz) is not being used by the owner because it has been damaged by flood. If it had been in good condition, the owner might have discovered the kids in time to save them.

Fourth, because it has been stuck-up for a long time, the car's mechanical levers may have failed including its lock system unfortunately trapping the two inside. Plus, the owner confirmed that the car indeed has a child-lock switch. Under normal circumstances this device ensures the safety of kids inside the car as it wouldn't open until it's disabled.

Fifth, the kids were locked in at the height of summer season, which means that temperature inside the car may have soared relatively faster. Experts say it would feel like you're in an oven in just a matter of minutes as shown here http://www.weather.com/newscenter/specialtopics/slideshows/hotcar061909.html. As such, this would have rendered the victims unconscious in a short span of time thereby significantly decreasing their chances of crying for help.

Sixth, due the kids' young age - Naraga was 4 and Buenaflor only 3 - they were not able to make more fruitful attempts to catch the attention of people nearby. Say, shout louder or bang harder.

Lastly, and worst of all, is the disturbing reality that they were people who treated the serious situation as a joke. Apparently, pranksters sent messages to the parents to distract and mislead them from their search. There were a couple of text messages asking for ransom while some were claiming they saw the boys in different provinces including Rizal and Pangasinan. The relatives spent precious time and energy verifying these messages that they had failed to look closer at home.

Indeed, the horrible tale of two deaths is now becoming clearer to police and the victims' relatives. The boys did not fall prey to kidnappers as what has been initially suspected. Instead, bad luck, bad decisions caused by bad behavior by some individuals led to this tragedy.

Some reporters termed this tragic incident as freak accident, but I think this does not qualify as one. Freak accident is an unusual and injurious event that no individual could have caused or prevented. And such is not the case here. Being locked in a car is not unusual, for starters. And clearly, if the authorities have been more thorough in their search, the parents more vigilant of their children's welfare, this incident could have been prevented. And the stupid pranksters (which unfortunately classify as "individuals") with their intentional false leads and claims certainly caused these two young boys' untimely demise.