Policeman, kin die in Quezon road mishap



LUCENA CITY – A rookie policeman assigned at the Real town police station in Quezon province and his cousin were killed in a road accident in Infanta town early on Sunday.

Police Officer 1 Von Karlo Astrera, 24, was negotiating a rough road in Barangay (village) Pilaway, Infanta driving a Honda Civic sedan (XFJ 520) with three passengers on board when he lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a roadside tree at around 4 a.m. Sunday, said a report released by the Quezon police provincial headquarter.

The impact caused the vehicle to turn turtle, the report said.

Astrera and his passengers were rushed to the Claro Recto Memorial Hospital in the Infanta town proper but the policeman and his cousin, John Ray Astrera, 30, had died before reaching the hospital, the report added.

Police said the two other passengers, identified as Michael Bolos and Winberto Warren Moises, sustained wounds and bruises and were still confined at the hospital.

Chief Inspector Roberto Santos, Infanta’s police chief, said in a separate phone interview that the victims were on their way home to General Nakar town from Real when the accident happened.

He said policemen were still investigating what caused the accident.