1 dead, 12 hurt in road accident in QC

An 18-year-old student was killed while his 12 companions were injured when the van they were riding in slammed into the road gutter and a steel barrier near Camp Aguinaldo and the Santolan flyover on Edsa, Quezon City before dawn Sunday.

Superintendent Arnold Santiago, head of the Quezon City Police District’s Traffic Enforcement Group, said that due to the impact, the van flipped over several times before it landed upside down on the road.

Santiago added that they were still trying to determine what caused the accident.

According to Santiago, the victims—13 in all and with ages ranging from 16 to 21 years—were traveling on the northbound lane of Edsa in an Anfra van at around 2 a.m. Sunday when the van hit the gutter and slammed into a steel barrier.

The 13 were taken to East Avenue Medical Center where Brille Jason Juan was declared dead on arrival.

Juan was a resident of Cityland Condominium in Quezon City.

Of the 12 other passengers, including the driver, two were reported to be in guarded condition. Only three of the victims were girls.

The driver of the van, a 17-year-old student and a resident of Tandang Sora, Quezon City, was placed in police custody.

Authorities said the boy, who had a valid driver’s license, would be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, multiple injury and damage to property.