Las Piñas road mishap leaves 3 dead

A wayward van plowed into a group of people waiting for a ride along a road in Las Piñas City yesterday, killing three.

The victims, identified as Rose Devera, 18; Arnold Firme, 22, and Emmanuel de Lara, 37, were on their way to a wake and waiting for public transport along the Alabang-Zapote Road near Manila Times Village when a closed van (XFL-491) slammed into them before hitting a barrier at 1:20 a.m.

The driver of the delivery van, identified as Leo Gonzales, fled after the incident, leaving behind his injured co-workers identified as Domingo Domeng, 21, and Zaldy Decatoria, 22. The two were taken to the University of Perpetual Help Hospital.

Prober SPO4 Juanito Rafael said Gonzales was driving at full speed heading toward Zapote in Las Piñas from Alabang, Muntinlupa when he lost control of the van. The vehicle veered toward the the sidewalk and hit a group of commuters.

"The van was coming in so fast. The victims were not able to get out of the way ," Rafael said. All three died on the spot, he added.

Rafael said the driver probably fled out of fear. Probers, however, said witnesses claimed Gonzales was racing with another motorist before the accident.

Police have coordinated with Gonzales’s employer to determine his whereabouts.

In Quezon City, a nine-year-old girl was killed after being run over by a truck the other day.

Police identified the fatality as Ariane Tascha, a Grade 2 pupil at the Fairview Elementary School and resident of 1-E Republic Avenue Greater Fairview. She died due to a broken skull and severe body injuries.

The driver of the truck, Felipe Milan Jr., 53, of Agoo, La Union, surrendered to authorities after the incident.

Initial investigation showed that Tascha was riding her bicycle at around 5 p.m. last Thursday and on the stretch of Republic Avenue in Greater Fairview when a government cargo truck (SDN-258) hit the girl.

Investigators said that Milan had just come from Regalado Avenue Extension and was going to Barangay Chestnut to deliver wood scraps.

Milan said he lost control of the vehicle and hit the girl.

Bystanders rushed Tascha to the FEU Hospital, where the girl was declared dead on arrival. – Edu Punay, Katherine Adraneda