COTABATO CITY — A driver and seven others died when his wayward ten-wheeler truck rammed vehicles and houses along a stretch of a highway in Barangay Malasila in Makilala, Cotabato on Thursday morning.

In initial statements an hour after the incident, Lt. Col. Rolly D. Oranza, acting chief of the Makilala Municipal Police Station, and officials of the Cotabato Provincial Police Office said that truck driver Leopoldo G. Ibañez lost control of the wheel due to mechanical trouble while maneuvering through a downhill stretch of the highway, causing the deadly accident.

Mr. Ibañez himself and seven others, among them are Joey Pamplona, his wife Tina, and their son, Jeremiah, a kindergarten pupil, perished in the accident, according to police investigators and personnel of the Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).

The light truck, four-wheeled vehicles, motorcycles and houses hit by the large truck driven by Mr. Ibañez, loaded with commercial fertilizers, were badly damaged. — John Felix M. Unson

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