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KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/07 June) – Two were killed and 10 others were injured when the commuter van carrying employees of the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation (NDBC) collided with a passenger tricycle along the highway in Sitio New Tarlac, Barangay Villamor in Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, around 4 p.m. Sunday.
Killed while being treated at Tamondong Ala Hospital in Esperanza were Horacio Feliciano, driver of the Notre Dame University-owned van, and Rene Tangonan, driver of the tricycle.
Injured were Jomar Capayuren, passenger of the tricycle; disc jockeys Minah Lintongan and Raul ‘Argie’ Gratuito of DXOL-FM; DXOL-FM program director Grace Vergara-Tanghal; DXMS-AM public affairs anchor Esmael ‘Sam’ Sali; personality program host Vern Simon; personality news director Jeffrey Mendez; NDBC Cotabato technical department head Ruperto Sapuay III; technician Dennis Pido; and business personnel Evelyn Mendez and Rogelio Doruelo.
Both DXOL-FM and DXMS-AM are owned by the NDBC of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the leading broadcast outfit in Southwestern Mindanao.
Reports from the Esperanza police said the van was heading toward the Sultan Kudarat-Maguindanao highway when it bumped the tricycle. Witnesses said Tangonan tried to avoid passing through an Ipil-Ipil tree that fell off across the road after a heavy rain but was hit instead by the van.
After colliding with the tricycle the van turned turtle four times.
Both drivers died a few hours after they were treated at the hospital, while the injured were transferred to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in Cotabato City for further treatment. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)