Truck falls into ravine; 5 dead, 38 hurt

Five people were killed while 38 others were hurt when a truck carrying wedding guests from Benguet fell into a ravine in Bauko, Mt. Province, on Saturday night, reports from the police and disaster response agencies showed.

Anacleto Tangilag, chief of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) in Mt. Province, said the Isuzu Elf truck was traveling along a section of the Halsema Highway in Sitio Lukib in Barangay Monamon Sur, when its driver lost control of the vehicle at 7:45 p.m.

The truck fell into an 80-meter deep ravine, killing Feliza Lagenio, Salvador Palag-oc, Caroline Lartec, Efren Bucasan and Dominga Angdasan.

Supt. Engelbert Soriano, spokesperson of the Cordillera police, said the 38 injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Baguio City, Benguet and Mt. Province.

Soriano said the truck driver, Tomas Magadia, survived and is now in the custody of the Bauko police.

Police and PDRRMC reports said it was raining at the time of the accident.

In Pampanga, a Nepalese student of an aviation school in Metro Manila was killed while seven of his classmates were hurt when the vehicle they were riding in turned turtle along the Clark Freeport section of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) on Saturday.

Chief Insp. Melencio Santos, acting chief of the Angeles City traffic management and enforcement unit, said Nikhil Adhikari, 23, died while being taken to the Angeles University Foundation Medical Center.

Aldwin Benedict Ednalino, 16, a resident of Sta. Cruz, Zambales, was in critical condition at the Mount Carmel Medical Center in the City of San Fernando.

Santos said Adhikari and Ednalino were thrown out of their Isuzu Crosswind as it rolled four times before hitting the highway’s steel railings.

The other injured students include Marc Jonathan Ong, 20, the driver; Nepalese students Arum Basnet, 21, Milan Neupane, 22, Rajiv Rimal, 22, and Bibek Baral, 22; and Filipino-Iranian Ramin Teimori, 21.

Police said the group was on its way to the Subic Bay Freeport when they saw the Omni Aviation Complex at the right side of the road.

Ong told investigators that they were all looking at the complex when he noticed that the vehicle was about to occupy the emergency lane. This prompted him to steer to the left and step on the brakes, causing the vehicle to roll over.

In Quezon province, a person was killed while 16 others were injured in separate vehicular accidents along the Maharlika Highway in Gumaca town on Friday, the police said Saturday.

SPO2 Eman Orivida, Gumaca police investigator, said Nuelo Capalos Sr., one of the passengers of the Nissan Sentra sedan that slammed into the garage of a house along the roadside hitting a parked vehicle inside.

The car was traveling in Barangay Lagyo towards Iriga City at around 3:15 a.m. when its driver was blinded by the bright headlight of the incoming vehicle. The driver and his seven passengers, including two children aged 7 and 3 and Capalos, were rushed to the San Diego General Hospital in Gumaca town proper. Capalos was later transferred to another hospital in the locality but was declared dead on arrival, he said.

Two hours later, an Isuzu School Bus driven by a Rizalino Oraa was traveling in Barangay Villa Bota towards Manila when it was hit from behind by an AB Liner bus driven by Reynaldo Romantico, said Orivida, citing a separate Gumaca police report.

All nine passengers of the school bus, all adults, were slightly injured and treated at the Gumaca District Hospital in the town proper.

Orivida said Romantico was found to be driving with “temporary operator’s permit” issued by the Land Transportation Office in Gumaca. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon and Delfin T. Mallari Inquirer Southern Luzon with a report from Jun Malig, Inquirer Central Luzon