5 killed in Leyte road accident

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – Five persons, including two children, were killed when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a mini-bus Saturday in Albuera, Leyte, police said.

The fatalities were identified as Nomer Durango, his wife Gloria, both 40; their daughter Julie Ann, 10; Regine Heredia, 2; and motorcycle driver Nilo Bernal, 43.

Heredia’s mother, Jenny, 21, was seriously injured taken to the OSPA Farmers’ Medical Center by members of the 78th Battalion based in Albuera, about 23 km from Ormoc City.

All of the victims were on a “habal-habal” – public utility motorcycles where passengers squeeze themselves in front and behind the driver that are common in the Philippine countryside. They were on their way from Albuera to the town of Baybay.

Inspector Pascasio Murillo Jr., Albuera police chief, said the motorcycle was about to turn left on the national highway in at Barangay Tinag-an when it was hit by a mini-bus headed for Ormoc.

The bus driver, Jiel Rubencia, 32, said he was cruising at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour when the motorcycle suddenly crossed the intersection.

He said he stepped on the brakes but they did not seem to work. The bus dragged the motorcycle about 50 meters away.

The bus owner, Edrito Deguiles, promised to shoulder the burial expenses of the fatalities as well as the medical bills of Jenny Heredia.