2 killed, 18 hurt in Quezon mishaps
LUCENA CITY—Two persons died and 18 others were hurt in two separate road accidents in Quezon highways over the weekend, police reports said.
In Lucena City, Juanito Narra from Buhi, Camarines Sur, died after the Bicol-bound van he was riding collided with an incoming passenger bus, Taw Trasco, along the Maharlika Highway diversion road in Barangay (village) Silangang Mayao early dawn on Sunday.
Eight passengers of the van suffered injuries and were rushed to Mount Carmel Diocesan General Hospital for treatment, said Chief Inspector Job de Mesa, Lucena police chief.
He said the driver of the van did not notice the unlighted signage of an ongoing road construction project in the area. To avoid crashing into the highway construction site, the van driver was forced to take the other lane but consequently collided with the incoming bus.
Collision
In Tiaong town, one person was also killed and 10 others were injured in a collision between a pickup vehicle and a passenger bus along Maharlika Highway on Friday evening.
Superintendent Laudemer Llaneta, Tiaong police chief, said a Nissan Frontier pickup (ZKF-257), driven by Leonardo Abad Cartagena, was heading to San Pablo City at around 8 p.m. when an incoming JAC Liner passenger bus (NYS-829), driven by Leonardo Tugade Jr., occupied the other lane and caused the right portion of its body to slam into the incoming Nissan.
The bus careened and landed on its right side due to the strong impact of the collision, police said.
Prior to the accident, “the bus was traveling fast and its body already swinging left and right,” said Llaneta, quoting the pickup driver.
One of the bus passengers, Edwin Riego Rellin, died on the spot when he was pinned down by the steel braces of the bus seats, Llaneta said.
Ten other bus passengers suffered minor head and body injuries, police said.
The Nissan driver was injured in one eye from shreds of glass from the broken windshield, according to Llaneta. The bus driver was now held at the Tiaong police jail.
