CEBU, Philippines - A two year old girl was killed after an Isuzu Elf truck bumped her at the national highway in barangay Panalipan, Catmon yesterday morning.
Jenine Villamor Espinosa, resident of the said place, was with her grandmother when truck driver Ritchie Gubalabi Lapinid accidentally hit her.
According to the investigation conducted by the Catmon police, Espinosa and her grandmother were on their way home when the incident happened.
The grandmother was allegedly holding the victim on one side while holding something on the other side. But the girl loosens her grip to her grandmother’s hand and suddenly ran towards the middle of the street.
Lapinid said he did not notice the girl crossing the street. He claimed that his attention was caught only when the people started shouting.
Lapinid went down from his truck and tried to save the victim by rushing her to the nearest Danao District Hospital. Unfortunately, the girl was declared dead on arrival by the attending physicians.
The driver voluntarily surrendered to the Danao Traffic Police but he was later turned over to the Catmon Police Station for further investigation.
PO2 Bernard Ares, Catmon police desk officer of the day, told The FREEMAN that the driver was temporarily detained in their station while waiting for the complainants to file the formal complaint.
Ares said that Lapinid will be charged with reckless imprudence resulting to homicide. —