1 killed, 4 hurt in CDO road accident

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- One person was killed while four others, including a four- yearold boy, were hurt when a cargo truck plunged into a ravine in the city's outskirts here yesterday morning.

Police identified the lone fatality as Renden Pido, the driver of the cargo truck with plate num- ber MVP 363 that was loaded with mangoes and bananas from Libangan, North Cotabato.

Injured were Orlando Ellorin, the trucker helper, Jennelyn Solestre, the four- month pregnant mother of JR Solestre, and the boy Diko Tumanan.

Police investigator, Officer Evelino Luman- taw, said that the cargo truck was reportedly negotiating the downward slope in Upper Carmen Hill in Puerto, when it plunged about 70 feet down the ravine at the accident- prone Sayre Highway in Upper Carmen.

He said the cargo truck, reportedly owned by Cotabato City Mayor Christopher Amping Datuwata, was loaded with more than 500 cartons of mangoes and 35 bags of bananas bound for Cebu City.

Orlando Ellorin, the trucker helper, told the police that the truck lost its brake while negotiating the downward slope, prompting the driver to ram it into a mango tree and preventing the truck from further plunging more than 300 feet.

It took rescuers who rushed to the accident scene more than five hours to retrieve the body of the driver who was pinned to death in the driver's seat.

The four- year- old boy suffered a broken arm while the mother injured her foot. The other two suffered injuries when they were pinned in the front seat of the truck.

The passengers hitched- hiked from Libangan, North Cotabato to Cagayan de Oro City and planned to take another Butuan- bound passenger bus upon arriving in Puerto here, the police said.