2 killed in new Baguio road mishap

BAGUIO CITY – Two persons were killed when an Elf truck bound here from La Trinidad smashed into a retaining wall then careened to the Balili river.

Driver Nobre Religman, 39, married and Alexander Soriano, died on the spot after their truck rammed right into a riprap wall at top speed along Kilometer 3 of the Halsema Highway along the border of this city and the adjoining Benguet capital town of La Trinidad at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday.

The second passenger, Samson Vicente, 13, a high school student of the Benguet National High School is in critical condition. Doctors at the Benguet General Hospital are afraid that they might amputate his two feet which were severely mangled by the accident.

Witnesses said that the Elf truck was at top speed when it suddenly swerved into the wall. The impact caused the truck to swerve to the other lane and fall into the Balili River some 20 feet from the road pavement.

The accident occurred at the same spot where a Dangwa Tranco bus fell early this year, Vicente Tomazar, head of the Office of the Civil Defense here said. – Artemio Dumlao