Death toll in Laguna road accident rises to 3

Three people have died in this smashup along the national highway in Alaminos town in Laguna province on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, which involved five vehicles. KIMMY BARAOIDAN/INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — The number of fatalities in the five-vehicle collision in Alaminos, Laguna, on Sunday rose to three with three others remaining in the hospital, the police said Monday.

The third fatality died Sunday night, said Alaminos police chief Sr. Inspector Jan Albert Rongavilla.

The police declined to release the identities of the victims without their families’ consent but Rongavilla said the male victim was a passenger of one of the cars involved, while the two others, both female, were riding another car. The incident happened around noon Sunday in Barangay 2.

In a phone interview, Rongavilla said they would file charges against Elynel Fernandez, 31, the driver of the trailer truck whose brake reportedly malfunctioned causing it to hit two cars.

“The cars (of the fatalities) seem to have absorbed the impact of the collision,” Rongavilla said.

The wayward truck also hit a passenger bus before hitting another car that was coming from the opposite lane of the national highway. /cbb