4 killed, 12 injured as truck falls off cliff

One of the injured passengers of the truck that was loaded with fruits and vegetables intended for Carbon Market is taken to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) by an ambulance for treatment of severe injuries.
(CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)

What should have been just an ordinary market day for farmers in the town of Argao, 67 kilometers south of Cebu City, turned into a tragedy when a truck loaded with vegetables and fruits intended for Cebu City’s biggest market fell into a 10-foot ravine, killing four persons including a pregnant woman and two children while injuring 12 others.

Initial police investigation revealed that at about 12:30 noontime, yesterday, while maneuvering a slope along Barangay Gutlang, Argao town, the Canter truck suddenly lost its brakes as it was going downhill and headed straight into the ravine.

The truck was loaded with vegetables, bananas, camote and coconuts from Barangay Ubaub, some 20 kilometers away from the site of the accident.

The victims, who all knew each other from Barangay Ubaub, were rushed to the Isidro C. Kintanar Memorial Hospital in Argao where a pregnant woman identified as Jelyn Pescadero, 29; her son, Jaymar, 8; and 11 year old, Joven Neri Jr. were pronounced dead on arrival.

Of those injured, only two remained at the hospital in Argao while the rest were taken to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) for treatment of critical injuries, said Dr. Clinia Seguerra, medical chief of the town hospital.

Local government doctors and Argao Mayor Stanley Caminero, a surgeon, attended to the victims and mobilized ambulances from neighboring LGUs — Carcar City, Sibonga, Dalaguete and Oslob — in transferring patients with grave conditions to VSMCC.

Provincial Board member of the 2nd district Jose Mari Salvador also responded to the emergency.

Anastacia Geverola, 65, who was among those rushed to VSMMC, died hours later in the hospital in Cebu City.

Five others remained in critical condition at VSMMC as of last night, according to VSMMC spokesman Nonoy Mongaya.

All four deaths were caused by multiple head injuries and fractures sustained by the victims.

Truck driver, 45-year-old Edgar Pescadero, told radio dyLA that the truck was in good condition when they left Barangay Ubaub to deliver their farm produce to Carbon Market.

Sixteen people, including Pescadero’s son, 7-year-old Elson, and other children rode the truck all wanting to help sell the vegetables and fruits in Carbon overnight.
Most passengers stayed at the back of the vehicle along with the cargo.

“Di man lagi kapugngan, sir, ang mga bata mikuyog man pod hasta gani akong anak (I could not stop them, the kids really wanted to go with us, even my own child),” Pescadero said.

But upon reaching Barangay Gutlang, the truck lost its brakes while running downhill.

“Bisan giunsa nako, basiyo na gyod ang brake. Ako untang gibangga sa lubi, milahos man gyod, mitibugsok ug natumba (No matter what I did, the brakes just wouldn’t work. I tried to crash into a coconut tree but it went straight for the cliff and fell),” he narrated.

Pescadero said that the truck, which he usually drove to Carbon market every Tuesday, was not overloaded.

P02 Renato Nacayton, desk officer of the Argao Police Station, said that Edgar was now detained at the police detention cell while investigators were waiting to see if the victims’ relatives will file charges against him.

However, it was learned that many of the victims were in fact his relatives as the accident also claimed the lives of his pregnant sister in law, Jelyn, and his nephew, Jaymar; while other relatives and friends remained in critical condition.

Argao police identified the injured as: truck boy Marvic Pescadero, 20; Christine Manila, 35; Redegonda Pantinople, 41; Janice Pantenople, 19; Jasper Pantinople, 4; Vicenta Fuentes, 45; Alconara Albos, 58; Margarita Geyrozaga, 45; Cirila Pantenople, 60; Elson Pescadero, 7; Leonila Pescadero, 63, and driver, Edgar.
In a press statement, Mayor Caminero said that he will be visiting the patients at VSMMC today to personally attend to their needs.