2 dead, 12 hurt in road mishap

TWO PERSONS died while 12 others were hurt in an accident involving three vehicles in Marikina City Sunday morning.

The fatalities—Vilma Tabuzo and Lino Antonio—were with their relatives on their way to a Novena Mass in Cainta, Rizal province when their van collided with a truck and a motorcycle on Marcos Highway in Barangay Barangka at 10:45 a.m.

Marikina police chief Senior Supt. Vincent Calanoga said that Tabuzo was killed on the spot while Antonio died as he was receiving treatment at the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center for head injuries.

The two were aboard a white Mitsubishi L300 van with their relatives, including three children. Eleven of the passengers in the vehicle were injured.

Case investigator SPO3 Rowel Gural said that the van driven by 71-year-old Francisco Valeza was running on the outer lane of Marcos Highway, beside the trailer truck driven by Richard Pisueña, when the vehicles collided with each other.

Due to the impact, the van veered off the highway, sideswiping a motorcycle and then slamming into two trees before coming to a stop.

Gural said that they were still trying to determine how the two Rizal-bound vehicles collided, noting that both of them were in their own lanes at the time of the accident.

Calanoga identified the injured passengers of the van—which was in a four-vehicle convoy—as Leonardo and Belen Curosan; Alfredo Gurobat; Azucene Buentiempo; Leizel Basilio; Teresita Vargas; Lourdes Valesa; Reymundo Tabuzo; Ena Tabuzo, 11; Janna Antonio, 6; and Abygail Cajuday. Also hurt was Rodrigo Madera, the driver of the motorcycle hit by the van after it veered off the highway.

Calanoga said that Valeza and Pisueña were both in police custody following further investigation on who should be charged over the accident.