Van hits truck; 3 dead, 10 hurt

CEBU, Philippines - What was supposed to be a trip to the hospital for a check-up ended in tragedy after three persons, one of them a 10-year-old boy, were killed while 10 others, four of them minors, were injured after the van they were riding hit a dump truck on the national highway of Barangay Talaga, Argao town, shortly before 7 a.m. yesterday.

The injured children, who are persons with disabilities, were supposed to be brought to the Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu for a check-up to be sponsored by the Norfil Foundation Inc. yesterday when the accident happened.

Killed on the spot were Guillerma Belandres, 25, of Barangay Banjigan, Dalaguete town; and Rosalinda Laurente, 42, of Barangay Calumpang, Oslob town. Diether Caracol, 10, also of Barangay Calumpang, survived the accident but later died at the Isidro C. Kintanar Memorial Hospital.

Those injured were Arieta Caracol, 42; Dan Luster Cala, 18; Luis Caracol, 31; and Aloisa Caracol, 14, from Barangay Calumpang, Oslob; Stephanie Belandres, 17; Jessica Celerio, 31; and Abegail Entice, three; and Jose Ramil Entice, 36, driver of the Isuzu van and father of Abegail, all of Barangay Banjigan, Dalaguete; and Lorna Minao, 46; and Ryan Minao, 12, both of Barangay Poblacion, Dalaguete.

They were referred to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City for further treatment. Most of them also are coastal residents.

The vehicle they were riding, an Isuzu van with license plate numbers TQC 306 driven by Jose Ramil, was traveling from Oslob town bound for Cebu City at the time when it collided with the Mitsubishi Fuso dump truck with license plate numbers KED 200 driven by Mandy Estares, 38, of Barangay Soton, Naga City, who was driving to Dalaguete from Naga City.

Estares, who also suffered a minor injury in his left leg and taken to the same hospital, told The FREEMAN they were supposed to load coal minerals with his truck boy Folino Alferez.

A witness to the incident, Renante Manitis, 41, of Barangay Talaga, said it was raining hard at that time and the van was traveling at high speed.

Due to the slippery and slightly curved road, the van collided with the dump truck.

Another witness Vilma Tabas, 45, agreed that the van was traveling at high speed and if not for the dump truck, it probably would have fallen into a deep ditch along the road.

However, Estares, insisted he slowed down upon seeing the van approaching.

Corazon Gabrinez, 33, the aunt of Diether, said she rushed to the Isidro C. Kintanar Memorial Hospital to check on Diether when his mother, Arieta, called her. Diether suffered from an eyesight problem and was among the beneficiaries of the foundation which visited to their town last year to help them.

Laurente, the guardian of Cala, was accompanying him for a check-up as the mother of the boy is working in Manila.

Argao police chief Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos, said they detained Estares pending the filing of charges against him for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and physical injuries at the fiscal’s office.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said it has yet to receive a formal report of the incident from Norfil, a community-based NGO that caters to foster care and community rehabilitation programs.— with Jessa Agua/BRP (FREEMAN)