3-VEHICLE COLLISION LEAVES 6 DEAD IN QUEZON

SIX people, including an eight-month old baby, on Wednesday were killed in a three-vehicle smash-up in Lopez, Quezon.

The names of the victims were being verified.

Four of the fatalities – a couple and their two children—were charred to death. They were hugging each other when recovered inside the burnt tuktuk or three-wheeled motorcycle.

Police said the fatalities were among the nine passengers of the tuktuk that caught fire when it was hit by the delivery truck.

The other passengers of the tuktuk were injured.

An investigation showed the three vehicles were travelling on the same direction when a speeding fish delivery truck hit the tuktuk on Maharlika Highway in Lopez, Quezon at around 2 a.m.  on Wednesday.

The tuktuk crashed onto the bus in front and burst into flames. The bus also caught fire.

Lopez Municipal Police Station chief Lt. Col. Dandy Aguilar said four of the victims died on the spot while two others died while being treated in the hospital.

No casualties were reported among the passengers of the bus.

A witness said the bus and the tuktuk stopped due to traffic caused by a road construction. The speeding delivery truck hit the tuktuk, which in turn struck the bus.

Four of the passengers of the tuktuk were pinned inside the vehicle that caught fire.

According to the tuktuk driver, he and his family were headed to Libon, Albay to attend the town’s fiesta when they met the accident.

He was one of the three who luckily survived when they were thrown off the tuktuk due to the impact.

Responding lawmen arrested the delivery truck driver, who is facing charges for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and damage to properties.

At the police station, the driver told police that he lost control of the delivery truck.

“Medyo mabilis ‘yung takbo ng truck ko, hindi kinaya ng preno kaya nasagi ko ‘yung ano. Ako po ay humihingi ng tawad sa kung ano man ho, hindi ko po kagustuhan na may mangyari ‘yung ganun. Hindi ko po sinasadya. Pasensya na po,” said the suspect.