3 dead, 7 hurt in Cotabato road accident

COTABATO CITY — Three women, one of them pregnant, were killed, while seven others, including minors, were seriously injured in a highway mishap in Barangay Central Malamote, Matalam, Cotabato, on Wednesday, January 1.

Col. Gilbert Tuzon, Cotabato provincial police director, told reporters on Thursday, January 2, that the three fatalities, Almira Pillado, the pregnant Michelle Pilado and their relative, Liza Rulida, died instantly from injuries sustained in the accident.

They were on their way to President Roxas town in Cotabato, along with seven other relatives, when the truck-type multicab carrying them, driven by Dennis Tayco Pillado, suddenly veered toward the side of the highway in Barangay Central Malamote and rammed a protective roadside metal railing.

He reportedly lost control of the wheel due to mechanical trouble.

Witnesses had told the personnel of the Matalam Municipal Police Station who responded to the incident that the collision was so strong that the passengers of the multicab, seated at its rear cargo deck, got thrown out and landed on the concrete pavement, causing them injuries. 

Tuzon said the victims, all residents of Barangay Dalipe in Mlang town in Cotabato, were supposed to attend a New Year’s Day gathering of close relatives in Barangay Lumonay in President Roxas. 

The accident left seven other passengers of the multicab, five of them minors, including two preschool children, badly injured.

The driver of the multicab sustained only bruises and minor contusions in different parts of his body, according to officials of the Matalam municipal police force.