Truck turns turtle, 1 dead, 4 injured

One was killed while four others were injured when a dump truck they were riding turned turtle after hitting a pothole last Monday night in barangay Lanas, Naga town.

Jerry Ferolino, 35, a worker at the Mactan Export Processing Zone and a resident of barangay Don Andres Soriano, Toledo City, was killed while Paulino Mananay, 35; Stanley Sanchez, 27; Triser Seguerra, 21; and Mario Baguio, 30, all residents of Toledo City, suffered injuries when they were pinned to the ground under the vehicle.

Sanchez, Seguerra and Baguio are all workers of Alvera Builders in Toledo City, owned by Ryan Neil Alvez, 30, who owned the dump truck and was also driving it at the time of the incident.

Alvez, in an interview, said he along with his employees left Mandaue City yesterday afternoon onboard the dump truck loaded with 2,000 kilograms of iron bars. The bars were scheduled to be delivered to Toledo City where he had contracted to construct a day-care and health center.

Upon reaching Naga town, Ferolino, Mananay and another companion hitched a ride for barangay Don Andres Soriano. But because of the worst condition of the road, Alvez said, he lost control of the vehicle after it hit a pothole and it headed straight into a ditch where it turned turtle.

Alvez voluntarily surrendered at the Naga Police station after the incident. - Flor Z. Perolina