Fatal plunge

Truck transporting vegetables in Argao falls into ravine, kills 4, hurts 12 others

FOUR persons died while 12 others, including the driver, were injured after the truck they were riding fell into a 15-foot ravine in Barangay Gutlang, Argao around 12:30 p.m. yesterday.

Police said the vehicle was transporting vegetables to the Carbon Public Market in Cebu City when its brakes malfunctioned.

The fatalities were identified as Jelyn Pescadero, 29; her son Jaymar, eight; and Neri Gonzaga, 11. They were declared dead on arrival at the Isidro Kintanar Memorial Hospital (IKMH) in the town.

Anastacia Geverola, 64, was also declared dead on arrival at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City.

As of 5:45 p.m. yesterday, 10 persons were confined in the VSMMC, five of them in critical condition. Three were under observation, while two were treated for scratches and bruises.

List of injured

PO3 Von Tecson, in a phone interview, identified the injured as Cristine Manila, 35; Rudy Pantinople, 41; Vicente Fuentes, 45; Alconara Albos, 58; Margarita Herozaga, 45; Perla Pantinople, 60; Elson Jay Pescadero, seven; Leonila Pescadero, 63; Marvic Pescadero, 20; Janice Panti-

Five passengers in critical condition at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center Driver Edgar Pescadero, who was one of the injured, reportedly drove straight into some trees to try to stop the vehicle’s momentum to no avail Passengers who were brought to the Isidro Kintanar Memorial Hospital in Argao attended by local doctors led by Mayor Stanley Caminero, a surgeon

nople, 15; and Jasper Pantinople, four.

Edgar Pescadero, the truck driver and a relative of Jelyn, was also injured. He surrendered to police.

Before the incident, the passengers came from Barangay Cubacub to load vegetables to the truck.

Edgar told police while they were traveling downhill in Gutlang, the brakes malfunctioned and he could no longer control the vehicle.

“He had hoped the truck’s momentum would slow down when he deliberately drove straight into some trees but that didn’t stop the truck, which end- ed up falling into the ravine,” said traffic investigator PO2 Howard Maynopos in Cebuano.

Witnesses told police that some of the passengers were thrown off the truck even before it fell.

First responders

Police were the first to arrive at the scene, followed by rescuers from the fire station and volunteers.

They found Jelyn stuck under the vehicle. They pulled her out, then her son and Gonzaga.

Police are waiting for relatives of the victims to file a case against the driver.

The Argao Municipal Government, in a press statement, said it has mobilized its resources in extending immediate assistance to the victims, while it awaits results of the police investigation.

The victims who were brought to the IKMH were attended by local doctors led by Mayor Stanley Caminero, a surgeon.

Ambulances from neighboring Carcar City, Sibonga, Dalaguete and Oslob helped transfer nine patients with grave conditions to the VSMMC.

The Municipality of Argao will also provide assistance to the two remaining patients at IKMH as well as to the families of the four passengers who died.