TWO escaped death after their pick–up truck fell into a 100-meter deep ravine Wednesday morning, November 20, in Kabayan, Benguet.
Lieutenant Gilbert Anselmo, Kabayan chief of police, identified the victims as George Licwasen Balancia, 36, farmer and resident of Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya and his passenger Roel Gumpaw, 26, laborer and resident of Dupax del Norte in Nueva Vizcaya.
Initial investigation disclosed the two came from Balay, Kabayan and was bound for Nueva Vizcaya and while traversing, ascending the slightly curved, slippery portion of the road, the driver lost control of the vehicle and plunged into the ravine.
Both victims sustained injuries and were brought to Kabayan Rural Health Unit and referred to Baguio General Hospital.
This will be the second road crash in the town after an AUV fell into a more or less 800 meter ravine in Adaoay, Kabayan last week of October killing three of its passenger and one injured.
No road barriers were observed for both incident.
World Health Organization Global Status Report for 2018 recorded since 2010, the number of road crash death never dipped below 8,000.
Data added 1.35 million deaths recorded each year with road crash main cause of death for five to 29 years old. .
In the World Day of Remembrance last November 17 for road crash victims in Cordillera, Land Transportation Office regional director Francis Ray Almora explained immediate factors associated with road crash vary from human factor or road user, vehicle and road defects and weather.
"We hope that the other factors that contribute to road crash will be addressed so that we would not have cases of road crashes in the future. Mechanical defects cannot be considered as human error because it is preventable and if we do good maintenance on our vehicles and make it road worthy, then this can be preventable and so we have to do our part," Almora added.