Truck hits 8 vehicles: 1 dead, 31 hurt

KIDAPAWAN CITY – An 18-yearold driver of a passenger tricycle was killed while 31 others were injured when a wayward truck rammed at least eight vehicles plying the national highway here around 7:25 p.m., Monday.

Police identified the fatality as Charlie Candado Saldua, 18, of Barangay Balindog, Kidapawan City.

There were reports, although unconfirmed, that another victim was killed while being treated in a hospital.

Senior Inspector Samuel Bascon, deputy chief of the Kidapawan City PNP, said that the 10-wheeler truck with plate card number RDL 579 driven by a certain Jamel Wamar, 27, of Barangay Silik, Pikit, went wild when it lost its brakes while heading towards home in Kabacan town, also in North Cotabato.

It first hit the tricycle driven by Saldua.

The vehicle was dragged at least 30 meters away from the area in Barangay Balindog. The impact was so strong that it killed Saldua on the spot, according to Bascon.

Despite this, the truck continued its speed and hit seven other vehicles along the highway, including a red Nissan Navarra with temporary plate number VS1354, a yellow passenger multicab (KVJ283); a car, a motorcycle, and three other vehicles.

Investigators hinted the driver and two of his helpers attempted to flee after he smashed his truck into the vehicles. But the truck fell on a cliff along the highway in Barangay Paco, also in Kidapawan City.

Minutes later, the police arrived in the area and collared Wamar and his companions and locked them in jail, Bascon said.

Police are readying charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and multiple frustrated homicide charges against Wamar.