Kin of 4 killed in train accident sue PNR for P7.5M

The relatives of four people who died after their vehicle was rammed by a

train have sued the Philippine National Railway (PNR) for P7.5 million in damages “for gross negligence that resulted in untimely deaths and various physical injuries.”

The civil case against the PNR and train driver Francisco Ramos was filed in the Manila Regional Trial Court on Thursday.

According to court documents, the group was crossing Maharlika Highway in Candelaria, Quezon, at 4:15 a.m. on their way to Albay for a family reunion in May last year when a Manila-bound train rammed the Toyota Innova they were riding in.

Nancy Carasig died on the spot while her daughter Paula and another relative, Kizhea Nicole Bolus, passed away shortly at a nearby hospital. The fourth victim, Edwin Oliquiano, died six days after while eight others, including the driver, sustained injuries.

“Sadly, despite knowledge that its employee and its train were involved in the incident, defendant PNR never volunteered to extend any form of assistance to the injured plaintiffs, the casualties and families of the deceased,” the claimants said.

“It bears stressing that the incident would not have happened had defendants PNR and Ramos exercised the diligence required of a railway operator and employer, and a train driver, respectively,” they said.

The petitioners added that at the time of the incident, there was no sufficient warning sign alerting motorists to the railroad crossing. They said the PNR was grossly negligent considering that the place was accident-prone and several accidents involving PNR trains had happened before.

Court records showed that the victims sent a demand letter to PNR in October last year asking for damages and compensation for hospitalization and funeral expenses. The PNR, however, offered a total of P90,000 to all of the plaintiffs.

“As we sympathize with the loss of family members and injuries suffered by your clients, we respectfully put forward before you that the … incident … was due to the negligence of the (victims’) driver,” the PNR, through its chief corporate counsel, said in a letter.

The letter said the Innova suddenly crossed the railroad tracks, “ignoring the warning signals from PNR’s crossing keeper resulting in the encroachment of PNR’s right of way.”

“This would have been prevented had Jonathan Agati [the victims’ driver] observed caution, especially [since] reports showed that there were two vehicles in front of the Innova that halted to give way to the incoming train but he overtook both,” it added.

Seven people were hurt in August last year when their vehicle was hit by a PNR train going to Tayuman in Manila. Last June, five people died while eight were seriously injured when a PNR train slammed into a tricycle carrying a teacher and a group of high school students in Iriga City.

An elderly vegetable vendor and a security guard were also killed in Manila last September and November, respectively, after they were hit by a PNR train.