Trike driver killed as van driver falls asleep behind the wheel

A tricycle driver was killed and seven others were injured in a vehicular collision in Rodriguez, Rizal, after a driver of a van fell asleep while behind the wheel.

As recorded on a security camera, a white van rammed into another closed van and then collided with at least six tricycles along the Rodriguez Highway in Barangay San Jose.

"May tricycle na medyo sumingit sa kanya tapos nung nakalagpas ng konti, nakatulog siya, then ang natapakan niya 'yung gas nung kaniyang sasakyan," Police Captain Raquel Escobedo, deputy chief of police at the Rodriguez Municipal Police, said in a report on GMA's "24 Oras Weekend" on Sunday.

The van driver faced charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, multiple physical injuries, and multiple damage to properties. He declined to comment.

The fatality was identified as Anthony Espiritu.

"Parang hindi ko kaya na wala na siya. Sobrang bait po, ma-ano po yun, makulit siya. Mami-miss ko 'yung kakulitan niya," Marivic Lubrico, his live-in partner, said in the same report.

"Napakasakit po, masakit kasi bigla ang pagkawala niya. Malakas na malakas siya," the victim's mother Carmelita Espiritu said.

"Dapat maayos siyang magmaneho. Hindi ganyan, dami niyang dinamay na tao," she added, referring to the van driver. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News