ONE person died while 15 others, including five children, were wounded on two separate vehicular accidents in nearby Zamboanga Sibugay province and in Zamboanga City, the police said Tuesday, March 10.
Police Major Helen Galvez, Police Regional Office-Zamboanga Peninsula information officer, said the first incident took place around 5:10 p.m. Monday in Catipan Village, Mabuhay, Zamboanga Sibugay.
Galvez said that the one died while six others, who are construction workers, were wounded in the first incident.
She identified the fatality as Reynaldo Bulanon, 49, a worker of a private construction firm.
Wounded were Bulanon’s companions identified as the following: Rich Dale Villaplana, 20; Robert Bartolaba, 19; Arthuro Trosa, 24; Roel Rivera, 21; Ariel Trosa, 18; and Elizer Pampanga, 26.
Galvez said investigation showed the victims were aboard a truck driven by Tamanan Olarte, 29, that crashed at a descending portion of the road when the driver lost control of the steering wheel.
She said the truck was traveling from the first project site in the village of Punawan, Mabuhay to the second project site in Barangay Catipan in the same town at the time of the accident.
Galvez said Olarte, who was unscathed during the incident, voluntarily surrendered to the police.
Police Captain Edwin Duco, Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) information office, said remaining nine victims, five of them children, were wounded in the second accident that took place around 6 p.m. Monday at Sitio Mountain View in Sinubong Village, Zamboanga City.
Duco identified the victims as follows: Zulfikar Saddarani, 30; Aldimar Usman, 27; Alhabil Abduhalim, 25; Alnasser Abduhalim, legal age; Hailil Aramain, 10; Al Udri Amdad, 14; Al Kalimuddin, 15; Aljid Usman 16; and Lukman Jayari, 16.
Duco said they were aboard a Tamaraw jitney driven by Saddarani that fell into a 30 feet deep ravine after the vehicle’s brake malfunctioned while traveling from Sinubong to Sitio Buggoc in the village of Rio Hondo, this city.
He said the victims were taken to the Labuan hospital for treatment. (SunStar Zamboanga)