7 vacationers killed in South Cotabato highway accident

COTABATO CITY — Seven family members from Cagayan de Oro City died in a highway accident in the Masangyaw area of Tupi, South Cotabato, on Monday, December 23.

An initial report from the office of Brig Gen. Arnold Ardiente, acting director of the Police Regional Office-12, on Tuesday morning, December 24, stated that the seven accident fatalities, Annabelle, Joel, Joan, Duke, Ike and two children, all surnamed Maglente, died instantly from injuries sustained in the accident.

They were on their way to Polomolok town in South Cotabato to spend Christmas there with relatives when their driver lost control of the wheel due to mechanical trouble, causing the L-300 van carrying them to veer towards the side of the highway and hit a large tree.

Police investigators in the Tupi Municipal Police Station told reporters that the collision was so strong that four of the passengers of the L-300 van were thrown out and landed on the rocky side of the route, causing them fatal injuries.

The injured driver of the L-300 van was immediately transported to a hospital by emergency responders from the Tupi local government unit.

The cadavers of the seven accident fatalities had been turned over by officials of the Tupi municipal police to their relatives residing in nearby Polomolok, not too distant from the scene of the accident.