NEWSBRIEFS

BASILAN

Abus, soldiers clash; 3 killed

Three suspected bandits were killed and a soldier was wounded in a clash between Army Scout Rangers and an Abu Sayyaf group in Barangay (village) Etub-Etub in Sumisip town on Sunday, according to the military.

Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, identified the leaders of the armed men numbering about 20 as Abdulbaku Ismanul, alias Commander Sahili, and Nurrodin Mudalam, alias Commander Not.

Three bodies and two M-16 rifles were recovered from the battle scene, Cabangbang said. The soldier suffered a limb fracture, he added.

Col. Alexander Macario, chief of Task Force Basilan, said the bandits fled in three motorized bancas toward Saluping Island.—Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao

QUEZON

‘Horror train’ kills boy

A 13-year-old boy was accidentally run over by a “horror train” in an amusement center in Lopez town and died at the hospital on Friday, police said.

Police Officer 3 Arlene Uriarte, case investigator, said the victim, Marvin de los Santos, took one of the fun rides dubbed “horror train” and fell from his seat, but his left leg got stuck in the steel railways. The train ran over him and dragged him, Uriarte said.

De los Santos died at Quezon Medical Center in Lucena City.

The train operator, Robin Roe Redoble, of Dasmariñas, Cavite, escaped after the accident, Uriarte said.—Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

NAGA CITY

Girl, 2, dies in fire

A 2-year-old girl left alone in a boarding house by her mother died in a 30-minute fire that hit a neighborhood in Barangay Sabang early Monday.

The body of Hyacinth Magbanua was found in the rubble of their room at the house owned by Perfecto Agbay on Gomez Street, Zone 1, said Senior Fire Officer3 Benhur Caronan, the investigating officer.

Caronan said the fire was caused by a candle left burning by one of the seven tenants and spread to an adjacent house. Magbanua’s mother, May Ann, told reporters that she left her daughter to the care of her landlord’s son when she went out to work on Sunday.

Shiena Barrameda, Inquirer Southern Luzon

ALBAY

Soldier killed in NPA ambush

An Army officer was killed in an ambush by communist rebels in Barangay (village) Maninila, a remote village in Camalig town, on Wednesday.

Corporal Ricardo Narito, who was driving a motorcycle ahead of his two other companions on another motorcycle, was attacked by five New People’s Army (NPA) rebels at about 5 p.m. on their way back to their detachment at Barangay Taplacon from Barangay Taladong, said Col. Arthur Ang, head of the 901st Infantry Brigade.

Narito’s companions, identified only as Privates First Class Sarol and Geolome, were able to fire back, prompting the rebels to withdraw and flee toward Barangay Solong.

The rebels took Narito’s M-16 rifle and a bandolier of M-16 magazines, Ang said.—Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon