Mall employee dies in road mishap

MANILA, Philippines – A mall employee died while her companion was seriously injured when a trailer truck sideswiped their motorcycle Saturday night in Valenzuela City.

Senior Police Officer 1 Noel Palomata, Valenzuela City police traffic investigator, said Gemalyn Balumbaga, 23, a resident of Barangay Karuhatan, died on the spot. “The woman’s body was cut into half after it was ran over by the trailer truck loaded with sacks of rice,” Palomata told The STAR.

Renante de la Cruz, 35, a resident of Bulacan, who was driving the motorcycle (TJ-3635) the fatality was riding sustained multiple head and body injuries and was still confined yesterday at the St. Luke’s Hospital.

Palomata said that a Fuzo trailer truck (TMX-583) driven by Christopher Bulos, 22, a resident of Barangay Canumay also in Valenzuela City, was traversing the Karuhatan Highway in Barangay Karuhatan when he accidentally sideswiped the victims’ motorcycle at around 10 p.m. Both riders were thrown off their motorcycle and Balumbaga went directly under the truck and was pinned down by the tires.

Both vehicles were going to north direction.

Patrolling cops were able to arrest the driver after they stopped him some 50 meters away from the scene of the incident.

Bulos told the police that he was not aware that he sideswiped the victims’ motorcycle, Palomata said.

The Valenzuela City police were preparing yesterday charges against the suspect.