BAGUIO CITY – A local tour guide was found dead in Sagada, Mt. Province on Tuesday.

Roderick Malecdan, 23, drowned inside Victoria Cave where he got trapped due to a downpour, officials said.

The Sagada Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) said Malecdan and 6 others went inside the cave on Sunday for an exploration.

They were trapped inside the cavern due to heavy rain but all of them managed to escape except for Malecdan.

“Ngayon sumama yung apat na guide, kasama dun si Roderick. Ang purpose sana nila ay mag-explore dito, at around 11:45 a.m. may tumawag na dito sa municipal information center para ipaalam na nawawala na yung isa nilang kasama na si Roderick,” Sagada MDRRMO head Aida Abeya.

Almost 100 rescuers responded to save Malecdan, according to Abeya.

However the search and retrieval operation was difficult because of the inclement weather.

“Kasi ang cave na yun, yun ang puntahan ng mga tubig na nanggagaling sa mga canals mula sa mountain. Kaya that was the reason why we were not successful in searching for the victim kasi napupuno na ng tubig yung cave tsaka murky na yung tubig,” Abeya said.

Malecdan’s body was brought to Barangay Demang, Sadanga, Mt. Province.