Bike accidents leave two dead

Two persons were killed while six others, including two minors, were injured in four traffic accidents involving motorcycles in two Cebu cities over the weekend. Daisy Chua, 26, of Greenbelt Village, Barangay Quiot, Cebu City succumbed to her injuries after she got run over by a vehicle on Escario Street, Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City Saturday night.

Her boyfriend, Hurdryne Conde, 24, who was driving the motorcycle they were riding, is now recuperating in a private hospital.

Senior Police Officer 1 Ramil Yncierto Cebu City Police Office Traffic Patrol Group investigator, said Chua and Yncierto were on their way to Gorordo Avenue around 10 p.m. when a Suzuki multicab (license plate AAD 9564) driven by Ernesto Pepito, 49, of Highway 77, Talamban, Cebu City hit them.

Pepito was overtaking a jitney (GWW 359) driven by Oliver Nieves, 29, of Lower Tabok Canal, Poblacion Pardo, Cebu City that was traveling behind Chua and Conde and in the process bumped the victims’ motorcycle.

Because of the impact, the motorcycle crashed and Nieves allegedly accidentally ran Chua over.

Responding Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation personnel immediately brought the victims to the Cebu Doctors Hospital but Chua was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

Yncierto said Pepito and Nieves, who are currently detained at the Fuente Police Station, blamed each other for the incident.

Pepito alleged that it was Nieves who killed Chua as it was the jitney that ran her over, but Nieves said it was the other way around.

Yncierto also said the windshield of Pepito’s multicab was also broken, giving weight to Nieves’s claim that it was actually Pepito who killed Chua.

Yncierto said they will further investigate what happened and wait for the death certificate to know what caused Chua’s death.

Eight hours earlier, in another motorcycle accident, 18-year-old Anthony Purisima of Poblacion, Sibonga town died after he, too, got ran over by a dump truck in City of Naga last Saturday.

PO1 Danilo Fernandez Naga City Police Station desk officer, told The Freeman in a telephone interview that the motorcycle driven by Purisima’s 14-year-old cousin was tailing the dump truck around 2 p.m. and was heading towards the direction of San Fernando town when the incident happened.

Fernandez said that when they reached Barangay Langtad, the minor and Purisima tried to overtake the dump truck on its right side instead of the left.

While maneuvering to pass the truck, the minor, who suffered slight injuries after the accident, lost control of the motorcycle and they crashed to the ground.

Purisima was thrown off the motorcycle and got ran over by the right rear tire of the dump truck. He died on the spot. Responding policemen placed dump truck driver Homelito Omayao, 41, of Barangay Bunga, Toledo City under custody.

Fernandez, however, said they would be constrained to release Omayao once the reglementary period of his detention would expire without Purisima’s family filing a criminal complaint against him.

Meanwhile, in Barangay East Poblacion, City of Naga, three persons, including a barangay captain, were injured also in a motorcycle accident past 6 p.m. the same day.

Initial investigation revealed that a motorcycle driven by one Jeffrey Sasan was trying to overtake another motorcycle but was forced back to his lane because of an oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane.

He, however, bumped the motorcycle driven by one George Alicaya, causing them both and Sasan’s passenger, Cantao-an, City of Naga Barangay Captain Vicente Aruba, 60, to fall to the ground.

All three of them were brought to the South General Hospital for treatment before they went to the police station to have the incident recorded.

An hour later, Barangay Pangdan, Naga City, a 10year-old boy was injured after he was hit by a motorcycle whose driver fled on foot after the incident.

The police said the boy was just standing by the side of the road when the motorcycle hit him.

The driver, who remains unidentified as of press time, stopped and checked the child's condition before fleeing when he saw the responding policemen.

The police said the motorcycle the driver left behind is registered under the name of a certain Robert Pantilgan of Barangay Inayagan, Naga City.

The child was brought to South General Hospital for medical treatment.

The police are still establishing the identity of the driver for the filing of a criminal complaint against him.