5 soldiers, 3 militiamen hurt in Zamboanga del Norte road accident

COTABATO CITY — Five soldiers and three militiamen were injured when the light truck carrying them rolled over due to mechanical trouble at a downhill stretch of a highway in Leon B. Postigo town in Zamboanga del Norte on Monday afternoon.

Five of the victims belong to the Army’s 44th Infantry Battalion while the three others are members of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit, according to senior officials of the 1st Infantry Division that has jurisdiction over provinces and cities in the Zamboanga peninsula.

The incident was preceded by the similar October 1, 2023 highway mishap involving an Army truck in Barangay Penacio in Sergio Osmeña town also in Zamboanga del Norte that injured 10 enlisted personnel of the Army’s 106th IB, also under the 1st ID.

In an initial report on Tuesday, the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Police Office stated that the injured eight state security men were on their way to somewhere when their vehicle swerved uncontrollably, rolled over twice and landed on its side along the highway in Sitio Kalawit in Barangay Tinaplan in Leon B. Postigo municipality.

Investigators in the Leon B. Postigo Municipal Police Station had told reporters the driver of the ill-fated Kia 450 military light truck carrying the victims lost control of the steering wheel when its brake system malfunctioned, causing the accident.  

The injured 44th IB personnel and the three CAFGU members were immediately transported to a hospital by emergency responders from the Leon B. Postigo local government unit, the Zamboanga del Norte PPO said.