4 motorists die, 2 hurt in Mindanao highway mishaps

April 14, 2024 | 4:57pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Four motorists, one of them a minor, were killed instantly in separate road accidents in Pitogo town Zamboanga del Sur and in General Santos City in two days.

The first to die from the two road mishaps were Argie Layat and Shilphie Rey Bustamante, a minor, when the motorcycle they riding together, along with another adolescent, Jay Diana, collided with an Isuzu Elf truck at a secluded stretch of a highway in Purok Pajo in Barangay Poblacion in Pitogo, Zamboanga del Sur on Friday.

The incident left Diana badly injured, now in a hospital.

Officials of the Pitogo Municipal Police Station had told reporters that truck driver Junrey Lumactod immediately yielded to the policemen who responded to the incident and turned over to them his license.

Two other motorists, Greggie Buan and Joshua Manguday, also both died on the spot when their motorcycle hit the side of a cargo truck they were trailing behind in Purok 3 in Barangay Katangawan in General Santos City on Saturday night.

The duo’s companion, Arnold Sumali, sustained serious wounds in different parts of his body, according to an initial report by the General Santos City Police Office released on Sunday morning.

The General Santos CPO said the driver of the truck that figured in the accident, Rolando Aguas, is now detained.

Aguas and his employer had pleaded for an amicable settlement with the families of accident fatalities Buan and Manguday.