Minor dead, 10 others hurt in highway mishap

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A 13-year-old student died on the spot while 10 other minors were badly hurt in a road accident on Monday, September 2, in Barangay Macambol in Mati City.

The fatality, Chloe Virtudez, and her school mates, were on their way to school when the passenger van carrying them rolled over and landed on its side while its driver was maneuvering through a stretch of the highway in Barangay Macambol in Mati City.

Radio reports here on Wednesday morning quoted officials of the Mati City Police Office as saying that probers and barangay officials have a theory that the driver of the van lost control of the wheel due to a mechanical problem that caused the accident.

The accident left 10 other students injured, immediately rushed by policemen and barangay officials to a hospital for treatment.

The Mati City local government had reportedly extended initial assistance to the family of the student who perished in the accident and to other passengers of the ill-fated van who are confined in a hospital.