Van with disabled, kids collide with truck; 3 dead

CEBU CITY—Three persons, including a 10-year-old boy, were killed while 10 others were injured when the van they were riding in collided with a truck in Argao town, 66.9 kilometers south of here, on Thursday.

The L300 van was loaded with 12 passengers, mostly persons with disabilities (PWDs) and some children from the towns of Oslob and Dalaguete, who were scheduled for a medical checkup in the hospital in Cebu City.

Police Officer 3 Bernie Lao, Argao police investigator, said the van, driven by Jose Ramil Entice, was overtaking a tricycle along the national highway in Barangay (village) Talaga, Argao, about 7 a.m.

The road, however, was slippery, causing the van to swerve and collide with the 10-wheel truck being driven by Mandy Espares, Lao said. The truck was headed for Dalaguete to haul coal.

Two women passengers of the van—Guillerma Belandres, 35, of Dalaguete, and Rosalinda Laurente, 42, of Oslob—were pronounced dead on arrival at Isidro Kintanar Memorial Hospital in Argao, Lao said.

Diether Caracol, 10, also of Oslob, died an hour later in the same hospital, he added.

Belandres and Laurente were escorting their relatives, who are PWDs, to the hospital.

Ten others, including the driver, were hurt.

Espares, who was only slighted injured, was not brought to the hospital. He was placed in police custody pending the filing of charges against him.