2 INC members killed, 3 hurt in Maguindanao car crash
COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Two members of the Iglesia ni Cristo were killed while three others were injured when the vehicle they were riding in fell into a 35-meter deep ravine in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao on Sunday.
Senior Inspector Ismael Madin, Sultan Kudarat police chief, in a phone interview, said the victims, aboard an old Mitsubishi car, were on their way to Pigcawayan in North Cotabato to join a ministry basketball competition when the accident happened in Barangay Ladia shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday.
He said 42-year-old INC minister Ariel Rizaldo of Parang, Maguindanao, and another preacher, Freddie Etak, 40, died on the spot while Jun Vitug, Jay Rubio and another unidentified companion were injured.
Madin said Rizaldo lost control of the wheel while trying to overtake a speeding motorcycle at a sharp curve when the car plunged into the ravine, said Madin who described the vehicle as in a total wreck.
