BACOLOD CITY – Three persons died while 17 others, including three minors, were injured when the truck they were riding in fell off a cliff in Barangay Codcod, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental last Friday.
Killed were Jenalyn Crapiano, 40; Maricel Lobrido, 40; and Haydie Lobrido, 53. All the fatalities were related and seated at the back of the vehicle.
Police Master Sgt. Junniever Zapanta, traffic investigator of the San Carlos City Police Station, said the truck driven by 31-year-old Rolando Amaca suffered a mechanical trouble.
Zapanta said Amaca lost control of the truck while negotiating the curve road and plunged off a 50-foot cliff. He said the driver tried to hit a tree.
Rescue operations lasted for more than an hour because the area was too far and it is located at the upper part of the barangay, Zapanta said.
Zapanta said six other passengers, including three minors aged 9, 12, and 15, are still confined in a hospital.
Two of them were transferred to Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital here because of serious injuries.
The victims came from neighboring Calatrava to witness the marriage proposal of one of their family members when the accident happened on their way home, Zapanta said.
He said the truck was possibly overloaded when it happened.
Zapanta said Amaca was released from police custody around 12 noon yesterday after the lapse of the 18-hour period.
He can still face charges for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, multiple physical injuries, and damage to property if one of the victims will pursue the filing of the case against him, the traffic investigator said.
