3 dead, 4 hurt in Quezon road mishap

Sunday road accident on Quirino Highway, Tagkawayan town, Quezon province. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/Tagkawayan PNP

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—A two-month old baby girl and two others died in a road accident on Quirino highway in Tagkawayan town, Quezon province early dawn Sunday, police said.

In a report, Chief Insp. William Angway Jr., Tagkawayan police station chief, said at around 2 a.m. a Bicol-bound owner-type jeep being driven by Mervin Villanueva and carrying four other passengers were traversing Barangay San Francisco when the vehicle suddenly lost control causing it to occupy the opposite lane and subsequently collided head-on with an incoming Manila-bound Toyota Fortuner station wagon.

Three occupants of the ill-fated jeep died on the spot. Police identified the fatalities as jeep driver Villanueva, baby girl Glyben Orolfo and Vicente Orolfo, all residents of Cabuyao, Laguna.

The relationship between the two Orolfo victims has yet to be determined by the police.

Angway said the two vehicles were both negotiating descending sections of the highway and accidentally collided when they met on a sharp curve.

“Apparently, it’s human error on the part of the jeep driver,” Angway said over the phone.

Police said four other passengers from the two vehicles were injured in the collision. They were rushed by rescuers to the Maria Eleazar Memorial District hospital in Tagkawayan.

The injured were identified as Glenda Villanueva, 31, Glengy Villanueva, 10, both jeep passengers; Marcelino Manalo and Lorna Manalo, both Toyota passengers and residents of San Juan, Batangas.