By: AARON RECUENCO, With a report from Nel Andrade
At least five people died while a 17 others were injured when a trailer truck rammed stores and a tricycle terminal in Taytay, Rizal yesterday morning.
While witnesses claim the truck may have lost its brakes, Taytay PNP chief Supt. Samuel Delorino said that based on their investigation, the truck was traversing the Tikling area from Cabrera road when it tried to avoid two tricycles in front.
The driver tried to avoid the two tricycles by maneuvering to its left but still hit one of the two vehicles, causing the truck to hit an acacia tree.
The container got separated from its truck, its front wheels forcibly lifting up and eventually rammed through stores and parked tricycles.
Delorino said the area is implementing an ordinance that limits truck driving to 10kph.
“Had the driver followed that ordinance, casualties and damage to properties might have been prevented,” said Delorino.
A total of five people died as a result of the crash, four of the cadavers were taken to the Manila East Medical Center.
Four injured victims were also taken to the Manila East Medical Center while the fifth fatality and the 14 other injured victims were taken to the Taytay Emergency Hospital.
“The fatalities are three female, including an old woman and a child and two male,” said Delorino.
Meantime, Delorino said the driver is already in the custody of authorities identified as 22-year-old John Paul Teston who is set to face several cases namely reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide, multiple injuries and multiple damage to properties.
Police said the intersection has been tagged as the killer junction as vehicular accidents involving trucks going down towards the junction of Manila East Road from Cabrera Road has already claimed several lives and damages to properties in the past.
In 2012, five persons, mostly are pedestrians were killed as a runaway truck hit them upon descending from Cabrera Road.
A pedestrian overpass has been constructed on the junction as one of the measures to prevent road accidents and ease traffic flow in the area. (With a report from Nel Andrade)