5 killed in 2 road crashes

Five people were killed in two separate road accidents in Nueva Ecija and Bacolod City.

A woman and her two children were killed when a truck hit their house in Barangay Capintalan in Carranglan town, Nueva Ecija, on Friday night, police said.

Chief Inspector Joseph Sta. Cruz, town police chief, said Rebecca Eugenio and her children, Voltaire, 9, and Rojana, 4, died instantly when a 10-wheel truck carrying 450 sacks of rice hit their house at 9 p.m.

Police said the Metro Manila-bound truck was negotiating a downhill road in Sitio Lower Pasto when its driver, Alex Batang, lost control of the steering wheel. Sta. Cruz said Batang had told investigators that the truck’s brakes malfunctioned.

In Negros Occidental, two siblings were killed and six others were injured in a vehicular accident in Murcia town on Friday morning.

Johna Porque, 8, and her brother Jessie, 6, died on the spot when a tricycle collided with a dump truck that was on its way to haul sand and gravel at 6:45 a.m., said Insp. Celjun Nemenio, officer in charge of the Murcia police.

Porque’s mother, Maria Janet, Jojo Ledesma, Igmedio Medioya Jr. and tricycle driver Sandy Sarceno, his wife Maria Jenny and his son John Mark, were injured and were brought to the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center for treatment, Nemenio said.

Maria Janet, Sarceno and his son, John Mark, suffered fractured legs and injuries in the head, while Maria Jenny has injuries all over her body.

Sarceno could not control the tricycle he was driving when one of its tires exploded, Nemenio said. As a result, the tricycle zigzagged and crossed into the opposite lane so it collided with the dump truck.

Johna and her cousin, John Mark, are both members of a drum and bugle corps and students of the Santa Cruz Elementary School in Murcia.

The victims, accompanied by their respective parents, were on their way to participate in a drum and bugle presentation at the Barangay Poblacion in Murcia, some 16 km from Bacolod City.

The presentation was in line with the opening ceremony of the town fiesta and celebration of the birthday of Murcia Mayor Andrew Montelibano, Nemenio said.

Reggie Espida, the driver of the dump truck, surrendered to the Murcia police. Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon; Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas