Ex-village head lone survivor in collision that killed 17

INQUIRER FILES

KIDAPAWAN CITY — The former village chair of Barangay Luhong of Antipas town in Cotabato province was the lone survivor of the collision between a ten-wheeler cargo truck and a passenger that killed 17 people on Monday.

Rosario Lopez Reyes, 63, former chief of the barangay where the accident happened, was among the passengers of the van that was rammed by a cargo truck in the barangay’s Purok 2, shortly after the van left the Antipas town terminal on its way to this city.

READ: 17 dead in Cotabato road accident

Reyes was still recuperating at the Antipas Medical Specialist Hospital, said Police Maj. Godofredo Tupaz II, Antipas police chief, on Tuesday.

Truck driver Edwin Dumapias Nasiad, 49, lost control of the truck loaded with sand and gravel and rammed the van driven by Mark Anthony Bunda, 26. The driver and 16 others were burned to death when the van flipped twice, plunged into a drainage canal and burst into flames.

Tupas said two of the fatalities remained unidentified as they were burned beyond recognition. INQ