Marcos Highway's 'killer bend' claims 4 more lives

Tuba, Benguet, Philippines – The so-called “killer bend” of Marcos Highway in Barangay Badiwan here claimed four more lives after a Manila-bound truck carrying at least seven tons of vegetables lost its brakes and landed on its side Tuesday night.

The fatalities were identified as truck helper Albert Flora, driver Rolando Carag, Pio Concencio, and Junjun Sabili. Injured were Catherine Ortiz, Aida Maslang, and Laura Castro, who were all rushed to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

In 2005, a Byron bus, which apparently also lost its brakes, turned upside down after it rammed into a huge boulder at the “killer bend,” leaving 12 of its passengers dead.

In 2007, a bus carrying students of a Bicol university who had just come from an educational tour in Baguio City, also suffered the same fate. Its driver and two passengers, including a child, died in the tragedy. – Artemio Dumlao