VICTIMS ON THEIR WAY TO WEDDING: 2 dead, 18 injured as jeepney rams truck along ‘death stretch’

ANGELES CITY — Two men were pinned to death, while 18 others were injured when their jeepney rammed into the rear of a trailer truck on the northbound lane of the North Expressway in Barangay Pulung Cacutud here at about 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

PO3 Romeo Bulanado said the 20 passengers of the privately owned Sarao jeepney, with license plate DSP 484, were on their way to attend a wedding in Tarlac City when they met the tragedy.

He identified the fatalities as driver Elias Balagso, 35, of Tondo, Manila, and Erwin Vizcayno, 23, of Barangay Banaba, Tarlac City. They died on the spot.

Bulanado said the jeepney must have been speeding because there were no indications that the trailer truck, loaded with fishmeal, had slowed down before it was hit from the rear.

Two of the truck’s passengers identified their driver as one Ramie Plaza who fled after the accident. Police held the two for questioning.

Of the 18 injured jeepney passengers, those who sustained serious injuries were identified as Reymark Vildan, 10; Randy Biblianas, 14; Flora Manawis, 67; and Mylene Pacop, all of Tondo.

They were pronounced out of danger at the Angeles University Hospital and later transferred to the Tarlac provincial hospital in Tarlac City where they have relatives.

The rest of the passengers sustained minor injuries.

Local motorists have described the 15-kilometer stretch of the North Expressway from San Fernando to Mabalacat in Pampanga as a "death zone" because of frequent fatal accidents in the area.

While police investigators said the accident was apparently the fault of the jeepney driver, other motorists noted that the 15-kilometer stretch is often full of potholes which make fast driving dangerous. — With Ric Sapnu