
RESCUERS try to extricate the crushed vehicles at the accident site. (Philippine Red Cross)
TARLAC CITY – Ten persons were killed and 37 others were injured in a multiple-vehicle collision at the SCTEX toll plaza here on Thursday afternoon, May 1.
Police Lt. Col. Romel Santos, Tarlac City police chief, said the accident in Barangay Bantog was reported to them at 12:30 p.m.
The mishap involved five vehicles – a Toyota Veloz driven by Carlo Mojica, a resident of San Fernando City, Pampanga; an 18-wheel truck driven by Darwin Cruel of Tondo, Manila; a Nissan Urvan, a Kia Sonet, and a Solid North Transit bus with license plates UVK-941 driven by Teodoro Merjan of Malawa, Lingayen, Pangasinan.
Santos said the bus rammed into the four vehicles which were waiting in line at the toll plaza to pay their toll. The bus driver reportedly fell asleep.
RESCUERS try to extricate the crushed vehicles at the accident site. (Philippine Red Cross)
However, Tarlac PDRRMO chief Marvin Guiang said the fatalities had reached 12, six of them children.
The bus driver is now under police custody.
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) reported the incident after getting confirmation from the Tarlac Provincial Hospital here.
The agency added that the incident site is approximately 43 kilometers or about an hour away from the PRC Tarlac Chapter office here.
The PRC had earlier said that 28 persons sustained injuries from the incident and were brought to the Tarlac Provincial Hospital here.
The PDRRMO Tarlac extricated persons pinned inside the vehicles.