COTABATO CITY — At least 19 persons were injured in a vehicular crash in Alamada, North Cotabato on Monday, the provincial police office said.
Reports reaching the office of North Cotabato police director, Col. Maximo Layugan, indicated that the highway crash occurred near the Army’s Camp Paulino Santos in Barangay Dado, Alamada town at past 10 a.m.
The ill-fated vehicle was headed for Davao City from a brief visit to the Asik-Asik Falls in Barangay Dado when the mishap transpired.
Lt. Col. Bernard Tayong, speaking for the police in North Cotabato, said the vehicle was negotiating a downward portion of the highway when its brake system malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to swerve outside the concrete lane.
“The youngest victim was six years old and the eldest was a 61-year-old male,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Tayong said seriously injured were driver Arlan Christopher Billena, 28, of Jade Valley Subdivision, Davao City, and Romeo Arlan, 61, who was seated at the front passenger seat of the Suzuki all-purpose vehicle.
Asik-Asik Falls became a popular tourist destination in Alamada due to its curtain-like waters cascading from the side of the mountain. -PNA)