11 killed in Cagayan vehicular accident —police

Eleven people were killed while five others were hurt after their pickup vehicle figured in an accident with a passenger bus in Abulug, Cagayan, police said Thursday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Abulug Police Station commander Police Major Antonio Palattao said the driver and two passengers of the pickup vehicle sustained injuries but survived the accident.

The victims, who belong to the same clan, had just come from the wake of a relative, according to Palattao.

“Yung mga 11 po na patay, dead on arrival, ay passenger po lahat ng pickup. Tama po kayo, may karga pa po sa likod. Kasi itong pickup galing sila ng lamay sa kanilang kamag-anak,” Palattao said.

(The 11 dead, dead on arrival, were all passengers in the pickup vehicle. You are right, there were passengers. This pickup came from the wake of their relative.)

Meanwhile, the bus driver and conductor were admitted to a hospital, according to Palattao. Their passengers sustained minor injuries and have already returned to their homes. 

Palattao said the incident happened when the bus allegedly hit the pickup vehicle at an intersection in Ayaga Junction in Barangay Lucban around 12 a.m. 

“Yung [bus] a binangga niya yung pickup dito sa driver side (The bus hit the pick-up vehicle on the driver's side),” he said.

“Doon sa video footage na napanood namin, yung pickup is dumiretso siya, instead na kumanan sana papuntang Tuguegarao e dumiretso siya biglang lumabas dito sa main highway. Tamang-tama naman na nandyan na yung [bus]. Sa intersection po ito nangyari,” he added.

(In the video footage we saw, the pickup vehicle was heading straight. Instead of going right to Tuguegarao, it went straight and suddenly exited to the main highway. The bus was already coming. It happened at the intersection.) —KBK, GMA Integrated News