4 hurt as truck rams 2 houses in Catbalogan City in Samar

Rescuers try to get truck driver Octavio Apolinar out of the truck he was driving after it rammed into two houses at Sitio Purok 1, Barangay Maulong, Catbalogan City, Samar on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. (Photo by ROBERT DEJON / Inquirer Visayas)

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar — Four persons were injured on Tuesday morning when a truck loaded with sand and gravel lost its brakes and rammed into two houses in Purok 1, Barangay Maulong in this city.

The police identified the victims as construction worker Oscar Pelardon, 51; Vincent John Cabato, 22, and his sister, Myra Cabato, 27; and truck driver Octavio Apolinar, 67.

Chief Insp. Bella Retuaya, Police Regional Office in Eastern Visayas (PRO-8) spokesperson, said Pelardon and Cabato owned the houses that were hit by the truck driven by Apolinar and owned by Jesus Canonigo of Basey town in Samar.

Rentuaya said the truck came from Basey and was heading to San Jose town, Samar, to deliver sand and gravel.

Apolinar was maneuvering through a downhill slope in Sitio Purok I when the truck’s brakes malfunctioned.

He lost control of the truck, which swerved to the side of the road hitting two houses.

The injured were brought to the Samar Provincial Hospital.

The police said the dump truck owner attended to thes need of the victims in the hospital. /atm