HEAD-ON COLLISION. The damaged commuter van that collided with the two motorbikes along the national highway of Barangay Kayaga, Kabacan, North Cotabato on Monday night (Nov. 27, 2023). Four victims onboard the motorbikes died in the incident. (Photo courtesy of Reinabai Otto)
KABACAN, North Cotabato – Four persons died in a road crash here involving a passenger van and two motorcycles on Monday night, police said.
Maj. Maxim Peralta, town police chief, identified the fatalities as Mohaimen Bangkailan, 29; and Nasser Mansag Cadulong, the motorbike drivers; also Almina Bangkailan, 21, and Kalya Sacanda, their respective back riders.
“The motorcycle-riding victims collided head-on with the passenger van around 8:16 p.m. in Barangay Kayaga here. Our investigation is still ongoing as to who is at fault,” Peralta said in a report Tuesday.
He said the victims bore serious injuries and were brought to the hospital but were pronounced dead on arrival.
The driver of the commuter van, Marcelino Zacharias, of Carmen town, Cotabato, was unscathed and temporarily detained at the Kabacan police lock-up cell, pending the result of the investigation.
Meanwhile, a police officer also died after falling off the Lamitan Bridge in Makilala town.
Lt. Col. Britz Sales, town police chief, identified the victim as Patrolman Florentino Fracsidecio II, a member of the 2nd Mobile Force Company based in Davao Occidental.
“At around 3 a.m., the residents heard a crash, but they have not seen a vehicle on the road nor the bridge,” she said.
At 2 p.m. of the same day, a resident who was about to fetch water in the river saw the victim’s body submerged in the river’s shallow waters. (PNA)
