Woman killed in Navotas road mishap

A 46-year-old woman died of multiple head and body injuries when she lost control of the motorcycle she was driving and was hit by a speeding cargo truck on a highway in Navotas yesterday.

Mila Caraballe, a resident of Road 10, Barangay North Bay Boulevard North (NBBN), Navotas, sustained head injuries and several broken bones in the body due to the force of the impact, police said.

PO2 Rodelio Asuncion, of the Northern District Traffic Enforcement Group investigation unit, said that the victim was on board a brand new and still unregistered Honda motorcycle on Road 10 at around 10:10 a.m. when she suddenly lost her balance and lost control of the vehicle.

Caraballe, who was not wearing any protective headgear, failed to avoid an incoming 18-wheeler cargo truck (UKZ 649), whose driver, Rodrigo Soriano, 36, of Malasiki, Pangasinan, also tried to stop.

However, the truck could not do so in time.

The victim and her motorcycle were dragged several meters before Soriano was able to stop the cargo truck.

The truck driver surrendered voluntarily to the authorities.

Meanwhile, a mentally disturbed man set himself on fire and died from severe burns yesterday in Navotas.

Chief Inspector Nixon Cayaban, staff duty officer, identified the victim as Edmund Arellano, 30, a resident of Merville Subdivision, Tanza, Navotas.

He was brought to the Tondo Medical Center, but was pronounced dead on arrival due to third-degree burns believed to be self-inflicted.

Initial investigation showed that at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Arellano set on fire his own bed during one of his manic fits. He then poured gasoline on himself and set his body on fire.

The timely arrival of his brother Jose Mari prevented the fire from further escalating. Arellano was taken to the hospital the next day after complaining of difficulty in breathing, but died on the way. – Pete Laude, Jerry Botial