9 dead as truck falls into ravine in Negros Oriental
BACOLOD CITY—Nine people, eight of them employees of the local government of Bayawan City in Negros Oriental, died when the dump truck they were riding fell into a 30-meter ravine in Barangay Kalamtukan on Wednesday.
The truck was on its way to deliver crude oil for tractors in Barangay Mandu-ao when the accident happened at Sitio Mansintak at 11:15 a.m., said Lt. Stephen Polinar, spokesperson for the Negros Oriental provincial police.
Eight of the victims were personnel of the engineering division of the City Agriculture Office (CAO) while the ninth truck passenger was an intern.
Police said the truck overshot the road while descending at Sitio Mansintak and fell into a ravine and straight into a riverbank.
Polinar said all truck passengers died, describing the vehicle as a “total wreck.”
“We are still investigating what happened, we have no direct witness of the incident,” he said.
Rescuers took the victims to a hospital in Kalumboyan village where doctors declared them dead.
Polinar identified the fatalities as Diomedes Canoy, Kervin Andog, Larry Llamos, Ronel Cabasag, Jonathan Hamor, Jovanie Babor, Jonaryl Caguisa, Warren Aseñas and Egmedio Arnaiz, the driver.
“Our hallways are quiet and our hearts are broken for our colleagues from the City Agriculture Office engineering division and the bright OJT (on the job training) student alongside them,” said a post on the Bayawan City Facebook page.
