TWO casino workers were killed when the motorcycle they were riding was rammed by a Honda Civic sedan whose driver was supposed to pick up his father, a coworker of the two fatalities.
The accident happened along Salinas Drive in barangay Lahug, Cebu City past 6 a.m. yesterday.
Police identified the fatalities as Gaudeoso Bontilao of barangay Guba, Cebu City and Joselito Lopez, 43, of barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City.
The victims were heading home after ending their shift at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) casino at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
The driver of the car, Gerard dela Cruz, was on his way to the hotel to pick up his father, also an employee at Pagcor.
Investigators said the car swerved to the opposite lane of the road and rammed the motorcycle driven by Bontilao.
After hitting the motorcycle, the car plowed into the pavement and sideswiped Roel Cadiz, 33, and Danny Vale, 37, before ramming the fence of Chika-an Restaurant.
Bontilao and Lopez were thrown off the motorcycle from the strong impact and were killed instantly.
Cadiz and Vale were rushed to a hospital.
Joy Tumulak, operations officer of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), said Dela Cruz appeared drunk and may have fallen asleep on the wheel. Tumulak said Dela Cruz admitted that he had drinks with friends until dawn. He woke up after a short nap to pick up his father.
Tumulak said Dela Cruz may be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in double homicide and physical injuries.
In a separate accident, a 26-year-old driver was injured when the cargo truck he was driving hit a dump truck at the South Road Properties (SRP) past 2 p.m. yesterday.
Joselito Engcoy, a resident of Talisay City, was pinned in his seat and it took paramedics from the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (Eruf) several minutes to extricate him from the wreckage.
Engcoy’s passenger Arnel Pinili, 31, said he was able to jump out of the truck after seeing that they were about to hit the truck they were tailing.
Pinili said they were on their way to the port area to haul sacks of rice.
The other truck was driven by Vicente Predes, 41, a resident of Barangay Diit, Tacloban City. /With reports from Michelle Joy L. Padayhag and Carine M. Asutilla
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