Woman killed, 18 hurt as truck falls off ravine

ZAMBOANGA CITY - A woman was killed and 18 others were injured when a mini-truck, trying to avoid a landslide, fell off a ravine on Wednesday afternoon along the highway in Molave, Zamboanga del Sur.

Senior Superintendent Sofronio Elcadre, police provincial director of Zamboanga del Sur, identified the lone fatality as Rosaria Encarnacion, 57. She died on the spot while two of the 18 injured passengers were in serious conditions.

Elcadre said a white Canter truck was travelling from Dipolog City when it plunged into the ravine about 6:30 p.m. along the highway in Barangay Ariosa, some 28 kilometers away from the Molave town proper.

Elcadre said that according to investigators, the driver was trying to negotiate the slippery road caused by the landslide when he lost control of the vehicle.

Encarnacion died on the spot while the rest of the passengers were brought to the Osmeña Community Hospital for treatment by responding policemen and personnel of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.