1 dead, 31 hurt in North Cotabato road mishap

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - A tricycle driver was killed while 31 others were badly hurt Monday night when a wayward truck ploughed through a line of vehicles from the opposite side of a national highway in Kidapawan City.

Jamel Wamar, the driver of the ill-fated truck, bearing license plates RDL 579, was immediately arrested and brought to the Kidapawan City jail by responding barangay officials and community watchmen.

Wamar told investigators he lost control of his truck when its brake system malfunctioned while en route to North Cotabato’s Kabacan town from Davao City.

The truck first rammed a tricycle, killing driver Charlie Candado on the spot, while speeding through a portion of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in Barangay Balindog southwest of Kidapawan City.

The truck hit more seven vehicles on the route, among them a Nissan pick-up truck, a passenger multi-cab, a car and three motorcycles.

Wamar and his helpers tried to escape after their truck plunged into a six-foot roadside ravine, but vigilant villagers and barangay officials managed to cuff and haul them to the nearest police precinct after a brief chase.

The passengers of the vehicles who figured in the accident were immediately rushed by local officials to different hospitals in Kidapawan City, the capital of North Cotabato.

Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista on Tuesday ordered the city police to compel the owner of the cargo truck to extend assistance to the victims.

The city government of Kidapawan has mobilized its health personnel to attend to the needs of the 31 accident victims.