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The truck was reportedly on its way to Kidapawan City to deliver 500 bags of cement when it lost its brakes around 7 p.m. and collided with the Multicab. Both vehicles turned upside down.
Injured were Lenny Puno, 34, and her 12-year-old daughter Ivy and 7-year-old son Ronald Jr.; Chona Miparanum, 24, and his brother Ian, 19; Emmy Joy Neri, 25; and Anna Marie Jaime, 21, all residents of Makilala, North Cotabato.
SPO1 Leopoldo Posadas, Makilala PNP traffic investigator, said the truck driven by Gary Belinario of Digos City in Davao del Sur lost its brakes while traversing the road to Sitio Patulangon in Barangay Malasila.
This blind curve located a few meters away from the detachment of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion has earned the moniker “killer highway.” In 2008, at least 10 accidents happened in this strip of the highway. Last Tuesday’s accident was already the second this year.
Belinario said in a radio interview that he tried everything to send out signals to other vehicles to make the driver aware that something was wrong with his truck. The Multicab driver, he added, sensed the danger. “He drove fast but still I hit the vehicle,” said Belinario.
Belinario and the driver of the Multicab, Joseph Tumale, were both unharmed.
The injured passengers were immediately rushed to the nearby Makilala Doctors Hospital for treatment. (Malu Cadeliña Manar / MindaNews)