Taxi hits tree: 1 dead, 3 hurt

STA. BARBARA, ILOILO, Philippines  — A 77-year-old woman was killed while three of her relatives were wounded after the taxi they were riding crashed into a mango tree at Brgy. Daga, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo Saturday afternoon.

Monica Suede, of Brgy. Buayahon of this town, was declared dead on arrival by attending physicians at the Western Visayas Sanitarium, while her sisters, Rogelia Suede and Fe Provido, 72, incurred injuries and were rushed to Iloilo St. Paul's Hospital.

The taxi driver and owner, Eduardo Suganob, also sustained injuries on his head but was released from hospital confinement.

The sisters just came from a fiesta and had an accident while on their way home.

Witnesses said the taxi was not running fast but the driver apparently lost control of it while maneuvering a sharp curve in the area, as it drifted and, after spinning five times, slammed into a mango tree by the roadside. (FREEMAN)