TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Three people died while thirty-two others were injured when the passenger vehicle they were riding lost its brakes while negotiating a sharp curve along the descending portion and fell on its right side along a road at Sitio Kapanikian, Barangay Junction, Pinukpuk town Tuesday afternoon.
Senior Victor Wanchakan, Director of the Kalinga Provincial Police Office, identified the fatalities as Michael Mariones Bagbago, 29, married, farmer and a resident of SO Kapegan, Junction, Pinukpuk, Kalinga, who died on the spot, while Joylyn Dangiwan Canias, 12 and Rosito Sagayo, 58, were both residents of Junction, Pinukpuk, Kalinga.
Initial police investigation showed the ill-fated vehicle which was fully loaded with individuals who attended a fellowship at barangay Gubgob, Tabuk City was negotiating a sharp curve along a descending portion of the road leading to Junction, Pinukpuk when the vehicle driven by George Baggay Caddawan 45, married, and a resident of Junction, Pinukpuk, Kalinga suffered mechanical trouble as it lost its brakes.
Probers disclosed the driver tried to control the speeding vehicle but he was not able to do so forcing it to fall on its right side and slide down several hundred meters downward thereby inflicting serious and minor injuries to the passengers.
Responding police operatives, elements of the Scene Of The Crime Operation (SOCO) team and local residents immediately rushed the victims to the different hospitals in Tabuk City, Kalinga and Tuguegarao City, Cagayan for medical treatment. Unfortunately, Mariones died on the spot while Canias and Sagayo died while undergoing close medical supervision in different hospitals.
The driver of the ill-fated vehicle was taken into custody by the probers while awaiting the filing of a case of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide, multiple serious physical injuries and damage to property.
Wanchakan called on motorists plying the different roads leading to and from the province to make sure that their vehicles are in good running condition, and that owners and their drivers are also in top shape to prevent the occurrence of similar accidents that would pose a serious threat to life and limb.
