Gov't ambulance kills woman, 56

CEBU, Philippines - A speeding ambulance carrying a patient who would be taken to a hospital in Cebu City hit and eventually killed a 56-year-old woman along the national highway of barangay Ocaña, Carcar City at around 8 p.m. last Friday.

Police said the victim, Catalina Saranillo, resident of barangay Banhigan, Badian town was rushed to the nearby hospital by the ambulance driver himself but she was declared dead on arrival by attending physicians.

The ambulance, with a plate numbers SHC-212, is owned by the municipality of Dalaguete and driven by Michael Angelo Ambrad, 22, a resident of Poblacion, Dalaguete.

PO3 Jovel Bacarisas of Carcar City Police Station said that the ambulance was traveling along the highway of Ocaña, Carcar City when Saranillo, who just disembarked from a passenger multicab, suddenly crossed the road and was hit by the speeding vehicle.

Ambrad immediately rushed the victim to Carcar City District Hospital but attending physicians pronounced her dead on arrival due to serious injuries she sustained.

Ambrad voluntarily surrendered to the police but he was released around 11:50 a.m. yesterday following an amicable settlement between a representative of Dalaguete government and the family of the fatality.

The Saranillo family was extended with an initial financial assistance of P10,000 for their expenses while the victim’s body is still being laid for vigil. — Niña G. Sumacot/WAB (THE FREEMAN)