ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/18 August)– Seven people were killed while eight others survived when two vehicles, a passenger van and a truck loaded with containers of gasoline, caught fire after colliding head-on in Titay municipality, Zamboanga Sibugay, a police official said on Saturday.
One of the seven fatalities was a four-year-old baby girl.
Insp. Mujib Haijula, Titay police chief, said the truck, driven by Froilan Dimasuhid, was en route to the province’s capital town of Ipil to deliver gasoline when it collided head-on with the passenger van at around 10:30 p.m. Friday in Barangay Poblacion.
Dimasuhid, along with a truck helper, came from Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental while the passenger van driven by Joel Villamor, which was loaded with 14 passengers, was on the way to Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.
Both drivers were killed in the accident.
Haijula said the two vehicles caught fire when the gasoline spilled due to the impact of the head-on collision.
Haijula said that eight of the 14 passengers survived as one of them managed to break open the van’s rear windshield, paving their way to safety.
They were assisted by bystanders who plucked them out of the burning vehicle, Haijula added.
Dimasuhid’s truck helper also survived the incident, Haijula said.
Aside from Dimasuhid and Villamor, the other fatalities were identified as four-year-old Diamay Espina, her auntie Delia Espina, Carmela Billiones, Estarlito Despi, Sr., and Antonia Gantalao. (Mindanews)