15 van passengers hurt in Cotabato mishap

COTABATO CITY – Fifteen commuters were injured when the brakes of a passenger van malfunctioned while overtaking a fuel tanker at an uphill stretch of a highway in Makilala, North Cotabato yesterday.

The driver of the passenger van, Peter Obota, 41, said he had no way to force his vehicle to fall into a two-meter deep roadside ditch to prevent it from hitting another vehicle ahead of them.

One of the injured passengers, Jocelyn Hagono, 45, of Barangay Balogo in Midsayap, North Cotabato passed out, but regained consciousness some 30 minutes later with the help of responding motorists.

Obota voluntarily turned over his driver’s license to the Makilala police for its proper disposition – John Unson