CEBU CITY – A “balut” (fertilized duck egg) vendor was killed when a wayward truck plowed into her and other vehicles in a port in San Remigio town, northern Cebu province past midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
The fatality was identified as Jennie Mandado, a 44-year-old resident of Barangay Hagnaya, San Remegio.
A TRUCK rams a building at the port of Barangay Hagnaya, San Remigio, Cebu. A balut vendor was killed in the incident which happened past midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 27. (Contributed photo)
Police Staff Sgt. Jeffry Lequin, investigator of the San Remegio police station, said the victim was selling the delicacy in the passenger waiting area when she was rammed by a truck driven by Arsenio Mansueto Lawan, 38.
Lequin said that the truck that was carrying sacks of rice was supposed to be loaded into a barge that was set to sail for Bantayan Island.
As Lawan maneuvered towards the barge, he noticed that the truck’s brake malfunctioned. He sought help from some people in the area to put something under the truck's wheel to stop it from moving forward.
Because the other trucks were carrying heavy cargoes and the incident happened in a downhill portion of the port, efforts to stop the truck went futile.
The truck first hit a parked Elf truck, a Toyota Fortuner, and two motorcycles before it rammed the terminal building where the vendor was pinned to the ground.
The victim was taken to a hospital where she was declared dead.
Police said charges for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and multiple damage to property will be filed against the truck driver.
San Remigio Mayor Al Pestolante said that an inter-agency meeting will be conducted to enable them to come up with measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Pestolante said the municipal government will provide necessary assistance to the vendor’s family.