BOKOD, Benguet – A 10-year old boy died while a driver was injured when the white elf truck they were riding reportedly suffered from mechanical trouble and fell off a deep ravine along the Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya road, particularly at sitio Pakak, barangay Pito here around 4 am Monday.
Senior Superintendent David Q. Lacdan, officer-in-charge of the Benguet Provincial Police Office, identified the slain minor as Zayrex Kenio Tonton, an elementary pupil and a native of Bisokol, Ballay, Kabayan while the wounded elf truck driver was named as Fredo Kinomes Panas, a resident of the same place.
Initial police investigation showed the two occupants of the elf truck came from the Nueva Vizcaya Agriculture Trading Center (NVATC) and were travelling along the Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya road when the vehicle reportedly suffered mechanical trouble causing the driver to lose control of their vehicle prompting it to fall into the deep ravine.
Responding police operatives and elements of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Bokod who responded in the accident scene were informed that the wounded driver was rushed to the Tidang Memorial Hospital in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya while they were only able to extricate the body of the young boy at around 5:30 pm.
The boy was immediately rushed to the Dennis Molintas Memorial Hospital in Daclan, Bokod but he was pronounced dead on arrival by his attending physician. His remains was subsequently brought to their hometown in Ballay, Kabayan in order for him to be given a descent burial.
The wounded driver was also subsequently transferred to the Pines City Doctor’s Hospital for further medical treatment of his multiple head and body injuries.
Probers are still conducting an indepth investigation on the real cause of the accident along the aforesaid roadline.
By Dexter A. See
