Eight passengers died while several others were injured after the six-wheeler truck they were riding lost its brakes in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental on Wednesday morning.
In a report to the provincial tactical operations center, Patrolman Alan James R. Cantano Jr. said police found the eight already dead when they arrived at the site in Purok 6 Bagaay, Barangay Baliwagan, Balingasag.
He said the truck carried passengers from Claveria, Misamis Oriental to Lagonglong town of the same province when the accident took place around 9:30 a.m.
“Upon reaching the above-mentioned place of the incident (in Balingasag), the vehicle’s brake system malfunctioned and the driver lost control that resulted in an accident,” Cantano said in the report.
The truck (AAR 6998) was registered under the name of Nora Ochigue of Aposkahoy, Claveria, but was driven by 31-year-old Junryl Cagmat.
In an interview via Magnum Radio, Jojo Dalman, a barangay official in Claveria, said the 43 passengers were mostly working in different barangays of their town and were on their way to a resort in Lagonglong together with their family and children.
Other than the ill-fated truck, four other vehicles carried other passengers who were also going to Lagonglong.
The accident was captured on a cellphone video by Christine Jane Ayunar, which she streamed live through Facebook.
“No one was hit (by the truck) from our end (residents of Purok 6), but they (the victims) were (in) pitiful (condition),” she said in the vernacular.
Ayunar said she noticed that some victims were children, and one female victim appeared to be pregnant.
The victims were rushed to the nearest provincial hospital in Balingasag, while the others were in Northern Mindanao Medical Center.
In a statement, Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Vicente Emano condoled with the families of the victims.
The provincial disaster risk reduction management office was ordered to mobilize, together with MisOr Cares, the social welfare arm of the provincial government, to help the survivors and the families of those who died.
Source: Philippines News Agency
