Wayward truck hurts 4 students in Manila

RESCUERS attend to one of the injured students on Friday. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

FOUR college students were hospitalized after being hit by a truck that went wayward in Quiapo, Manila, shortly before noon on Friday.

A Mitsubishi Canter truck loaded with sand was passing through Nepomuceno Street when it suddenly veered to the right near the corner of Concepcion Aguila Street and hit the students, who were then on the sidewalk.

The Manila Police District identified the victims as Quezon City residents Klarence Rae Ocampo, 18; Micah Francisco, 18; and Daphine Lucero; 18; and Taytay, Rizal, resident Eva Pareja, 19.

According to a Radyo Inquirer report, Ocampo, an engineering student at Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP), was pinned down for several minutes under the truck and was brought to Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center for treatment.

Considered the worst hit among the four, Ocampo sustained a fracture in the right arm, among other injuries, said the case investigator, PO2 John Mark Estrada. Lucero and  Francisco, both from National Teachers College, were brought to another Manila hospital where they remained under observation as of Friday afternoon.

Responding village officials had to instruct the driver to back up in order to free Ocampo from underneath the vehicle. After doing it, the driver, initially identified as Raffy, fled the scene. Kristine Felisse Mangunay; Erwin Aguilon, Radyo Inquirer