5 dead, 24 injured in 2 road crashes in north RP

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela — Five were killed and 24 others hurt in separate road accidents in the provinces of Kalinga in the Cordillera Administrative Region and Isabela in the Cagayan Valley Region on Friday. The four fatalities in the Kalinga accident were identified by Kalinga police in an initial report as Eling Fabros, Maria Abenoja, and couple Purita and Guillermo Guzman, all from Burgos town in Isabela province. On the other hand, Isabela police identified businessman Bill Albert Torio of Alicia town as the lone fatality in a collision on the national highway in Alicia’s Padda village early on Friday. Initial report from the Kalinga police showed that some 70 passengers on a mid-sized truck left Burgos town Friday morning heading for Calanan village in Tabuk town in Kalinga to seek treatment for various illnesses from a faith healer. The group was unable to meet with the faith healer because of the huge crowd of people who have been in the place days before, awaiting the healing sessions that take place only on weekends. A Bombo Radyo report indicated that after failing to see the healer, the group decided to spend the night in the house of one of their companions – retired police officer Col. Domingo Duco. On their way to Duco’s house on Friday night, the overloaded truck tilted before over turning while it was negotiating a narrow, winding road in Sitio Bulanao in Tabuk town’s Mapayao village. The truck, an Isuzu Elf, was reportedly owned by Isabela’s Burgos town councilor Alexander Agliam and was on loan to the victims who were from the town’s villages. According to the report, of the 24 injured passengers being treated at the Kalinga Provincial Hospital in Tabuk, one was comatose. For the Isabela accident, police investigators from the Alicia police office reported that businessman Torio’s north-bound Nissan Navara pick-up truck collided head-on with passenger bus owned by Lasam Transit. The report said that Torio had just overtaken a tricycle when his car rammed the bus on the opposite lane. Torio died on the spot after sustaining fatal injuries to his head. The three passengers of the bus who were injured were reportedly athletes from Cagayan who were on their way to Manila to compete in the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) Meet. — LBG, GMANews.TV