Bacolod City (Image from Google Maps)
BACOLOD CITY – What was supposed to be a fun outing for the family of a councilor from Pototan town, in a resort in Negros Occidental ended up in a tragedy on Saturday.
A seven-year-old boy was killed and his mother was wounded when a centuries-old mahogany tree, toppled by strong winds, hit the windshield of their sports utility vehicle in Bacolod City.
Ken Marion Peñaflorida died of head wounds while his mother, Maureen, was injured in the right eye.
Councilor Kent Roger Peñaflorida of Pototan town in Iloilo was driving the Toyota Fortuner to Campuestohan Highland Resort in Talisay City.
There were 10 people aboard the vehicle – five children and five adults, including the councilor’s wife and son.
On reaching Bacolod Boy’s Home, an orphanage in Barangay Granada, a strong wind blew, toppling an old tree that hit the vehicle’s windshield and hood.
Chief Insp. Sherlock Gabana, Police Station 5 chief, said the boy sitting on his mother’s lap. He hit his head on the windshield as the councilor applied the brakes on the Toyota Fortuner as the tree was falling.
The police said the boy sustained a depressed skull fracture.
A concerned citizen took the injured mother and son aboard a Ford Everest to the Doctors’ Hospital , but Ken Marion was declared dead at about 1:56 p.m. Saturday, said Gabana. /atm