2 dead, 10 hurt in Sultan Kudarat road accident

KIDAPAWAN CITY — Two people were killed while 10 others were injured when a commuter van carrying employees of the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation (NDBC) collided with a passenger tricycle at Sitio New Tarlac, Barangay Villamor in Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat over the weekend, police said Monday. Police identified those killed as Horacio Feliciano, driver of the commuter van owned by the Notre Dame University, and Rene Tangonan, driver of the tricycle. Those 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 host Vern Simon; 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 Central Mindanao. Reports from the Esperanza PNP said the van was heading toward the Sultan Kudarat- Maguindanao highway when it bumped the tricycle driven by Tangonan about 4 p.m. Sunday. According to witnesses, 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. The van , after it collided with the tricycle, overturned four times, witnesses said. Both drivers expired a few hours after they were treated at a local hospital, while the injured were transferred to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in Cotabato City for further treatment. — Malu Cadelina Manar/RSJ, GMANews.TV