Death toll from Cotabato road crash rises to 9

KIDAPAWAN CITY—Another passenger of the van that rammed a big tree along a highway in Cotabato died at a hospital on Saturday morning, bringing to nine the death toll from the predawn road accident that occurred in Matalam town's Barangay West Patadon.


^{The van that figured in Catabato road crash. --Williamor Magbanua}

Matalam police chief Inspector Elias Colonia, said the latest reported fatality from the accident died at the Cotabato Provincial Hospital (CPH) in Barangay Amas.

Colonia identified four of the nine fatalities as Nor Canda, 28, of Plang Village in Kabacan; Lyle Rodolph Octaviano; Juliet Debalosan, 40, of Davao City; and Haydee Gubaton of Poblacion 2, Pigcawayan Cotabato.
 
Two of three passengers admitted at the CPH were identified as Abel Debalosan, 33, and Solida Echivaria, 55. Authorities are still gathering information on the identities of the other vicitms.

Colonia said, the driver of the white Toyota HiAce van, identified as Brendo Singco of Pikit town, fled after the accident.
 
Meanwhile, Superintendent Bernard Tayong, North Cotabato Police Provincial Office spokesperson, said police investigators are having difficulty identifying the rest of the victims because they don’t have identification cards and their belongings were scattered along the highway.
 
The remains of the 9 fatalities are now at the Collado Funeral Parlor in Barangay Poblacion, Matalam.
 
Van conductor Jebon Policarpio said the driver also sustained several injuries from the accident.
 
He told dxND Radyo Bida in Kidapawan City that he saw the driver riding a motorcycle as he fled towards Matalam town proper.
 
“I don’t know if he was fetched by relatives. But I saw him on motorcycle a few minutes after the incident,” Policarpio told local radio station anchor.

The conductor also said their van, with 17 passengers, left Ecoland Terminal in Davao City at Friday midnight.

They stopped over Kidapawan City where three passengers alighted. “In fact had coffee along with other passengers before we proceeded to Matalam,” Policarpio said.
 
Colonia appealed to the van driver to show up and face possible complaints that might be filed against him. —Williamor A. Magbanua/LBG, GMA News