Van falls into fishpond; 1 killed, 11 hurt

DAGUPAN CITY—A passenger van on Sunday fell into a fishpond in San Fabian town, Pangasinan province, killing one person and hurting all its 11 passengers, police said.

Chief Inspector Roland Sacyat, San Fabian police chief, said Florentino Anteojo, 45, a taho vendor, died after the van, which came from Baguio City, hit him in Barangay (village) Longos at 9:30 a.m.

Sacyat said the van tried to overtake another vehicle but as it picked up speed, the driver, Rosendo Paragas, 43, noticed his vehicle lost its brakes. Paragas swerved the van to the road shoulder, hitting Anteojo’s bike before falling into a shallow bangus (milkfish) pond.

Anteojo died while being taken to a hospital in the town. The van’s passengers suffered minor injuries and were taken to Region 1 Medical Center in this city.  Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon