BY MA. THERESA LADIAO
ILOILO – Two individuals died while two others were injured following a head-on collision between a cement mixer truck and a wing van in Barangay Calaboa, Leganes town around 11 a.m. yesterday, September 10.
Wing van helper Niño Miranda, a resident of Badiangan town, was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, said Master Sergeant Leo Barnuevo of the Leganes Municipal Police Station (MPS).
Barnuevo added that mixer truck driver Fermin Gamarcha of Sitio Ilaya, Barangay Cali, Dumangas town, who was stuck in his seat, died while receiving treatment at the hospital.
Both victims sustained fatal head injuries.
According to the investigation of the Leganes MPS, the mixer truck was heading towards Zarraga town from Iloilo City while the wing van driven by Ryan Ramos and loaded with soft drinks and other beverages was en route to the city from Leganes when the two vehicles collided.
According to Fire Inspector Ariel Seloterio, acting fire marshal of the Leganes Fire Station, rescue operations took over two hours as responders worked to carefully extract the victims without aggravating their injuries.
Ramos and his other helper, Jomar Sonza, sustained body injuries and were brought to Western Visayas Medical Center.
Barnuevo said that based on their initial investigation, Ramos lost control of the wing van’s steering wheel after a tire blowout and it crashed against the mixer truck running from the opposite direction.
As of this writing, Leganes MPS was still conducting a thorough investigation into the incident./PN
