CEBU, Philippines - It was a bloody Saturday morning yesterday in Barangay Sta. Ana, Barili, Cebu after a 10-wheeler wing van truck rammed a house, a store, and an Internet café along the national highway, killing two persons and injuring 17 others.
Anderson Vergara, 11, and Jennifer Martillan, 22, died on the spot after suffering severe injuries as a result of the accident.
Authorities identified those injured as John Phillip Gorro, five; Franklin Gorro, 14; Maria Flordeline Gorro, seven; John Carlo Gorro, six; Mary Joy Gorro, four; Larry John Martillan, three months old; John Michael Selituna, 10; Florencio Selituna, 48; Romeo Bayabos, 53; Jude Martin Buhay, eight; Jose Aguilar, 53; Joshua Vergara, 14; and Roque Vergara, nine.
Most of the injured children were in playing online games in the Internet cafe when the incident happened.
Also injured were truck driver Abines Quiñanola of Barangay Alang-Alang, Mandaue City; his truck helper Elmer Culango, 20, of Tipolo, Mandaue; and passenger Rose Mae Libante, 35, of San Carlos City, Negros Oriental.
Nine of those injured were rushed to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City for further medication while the rest were brought to the Barili District Hospital.
The police said the truck (YKP 197), loaded with pallets of beer worth almost P1 million, reportedly lost its brakes while negotiating a descending portion of the road.
The truck, owned by one Ariel Vera of Cebu City, was supposed to transport beer from Cebu City to Malabuyoc town.
Insp. Arvi Arbuis, Barili police station chief, said Quiñanola first bumped a multicab parked near a house before it hit the store owned by Paz Gonzales and the Internet cafe owned by Edmund Concepcion.
“Ang (The) internet cafe was made of light materials unya guba gyud kaayo. Nagdagan pa na sa wa pa kahunong (so it was easily destroyed. The truck still traveled several meters before finally stopping),†Arbuis told The FREEMAN.
He said Jennifer was standing by the side of the road around 6:30 a.m. and carrying her three-month-old baby when she the truck hit her. The impact caused the baby to be flung aside, while Jennifer died on the spot.
Anderson, on the other hand, was in the Internet cafe when the truck hit the structure and pinned him to death.
Others in the Internet café failed to immediately ran for safety because they did not notice the truck heading their way.
“Kini man gud lugara tambayanan nang tindahan sa duol. Kasagaran mga habal-habal driver, unya di layo ang(In that area, people always mill around the store there, especially the motorcycle-for-hire drivers. There is also a nearby) Internet cafe...gidaro gyud na (which the truck all plowed over),†Arbuis said, in a telephone interview.
Quiñanola said he could no longer control the truck after it lost its brakes.
“Naglisod nako og control kay nagtakilid na man ang truck,†he said, in an interview over TV5’s News 5.
Arbuis said they are now coordinating with municipal officials to check if what happened was due to either mechanical failure or to human error.
He said they are tracing where the truck started to lose its brakes as part of their investigation.
“Gi-check namo ang tangke sa hangin unya gisubay namo ang (We checked the air tank and traced the) hose sa chassis ngadto sa (to the) foot brake, nga (which is) possible nagasgas unya nabuslot maong wala kasugakod (to be worn out already),†Arbuis said.
The police will be filing reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and multiple physical injuries against Quiñanola.
Martha Selituna, John Michael’s mother, said her son was walking back home after buying sugar from the store when the 10-wheeler truck bulldozed into the store moments after he left.
“Maayo na lang gyud gani tawon kay nakabiya na siya sa tindahan pagkadasmag sa trak didto (Good thing my son has left the store already when the truck came),†said Martha, 40.
John Michael, however, was caught by flying cases of beer, leaving him with a fracture foot, a cut on the left ear, and wounds on the head.
Martha said that while John Michael’s wounds have stopped bleeding, she was told there could be internal injuries because her son had difficulty of breathing.
She said that John Michael, who was among those confined at the VSMMC, would be placed under observation by doctors for at least a month.
She appealed for help, particularly from the truck owner, because her income as pizza store attendant is too meager to pay for the hospital bills.
Meanwhile, in Sitio Dapdap, Poblacion III, Carcar City, Cebu, one-year-old son Nickyle Gabrille Demegillo Sestoso died while his mother Noviefe suffered injuries after a multicab hit them.
The police said the victims were walking along a barangay road when the Suzuki Multicab driven by Kenneth Aldaya Daclan,18, bumped them.
Initial police investigation showed that Daclan, who has no driving license, was on his way to park his vehicle when he accidentally hit Noviefe and her son.
The victims were rushed to the Carcar Provincial Hospital for medical help but attending physician Edward Pitalvero found Kenneth to be already dead.
Daclan is temporarily detained at the Carcar City Police Station pending the filing of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, physical injuries, and damage to property against him.—/RHM (FREEMAN)