4 die, 7 hurt in three-vehicle collision in Cagayan

TUGUEGARAO CITY — Four people died and seven others were injured in a collision involving a sport utility vehicle (SUV), a tricycle, and a “kolong-kolong” (improvised tricycle) at the national road in Gonzaga town in Cagayan on Saturday night, a police report said Sunday.

Gonzaga police said Rodolfo Batin, 56 and a resident of Quezon town in Isabela, was driving his SUV along the road in Barangay (village) Ipil at 10:30 p.m. when he mistakenly entered a one-way street on a bridge after failing to notice the signage.

A tricycle using the one-way road suddenly stopped to accommodate the incoming car.

As a result, the SUV rammed the tricycle, which also slammed onto the kolong-kolong behind it. The impact caused the four occupants of the kolong-kolong to be thrown off the vehicle and below the bridge.

Kolong-kolong passenger Velvet Geron and driver Donato Barsatan died while being taken to the APEM Hospital in the town center, while passenger Marinet Barsatan died while being treated at the said hospital. Another kolong-kolong passenger, 7-year-old Prince Barsatan, died at a separate private hospital.

The police said all fatalities were related to each other but did not specify their relationships.

The seven occupants of the tricycle, including its driver, all suffered injuries and were taken to hospitals for treatment. The names of the injured were not in the report.

Batin, who was unharmed, gave himself up to the police while charges for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicides and physical injuries are being readied against him.

READ: 1 dead, 2 injured in Quezon highway crash