The ill-fated kolong-kolong. Photos by Ernie Esconde
SAMAL, Bataan — Two persons died while four others, including a baby, were injured when the kolong-kolong they were riding collided head-on with an incoming 22-wheeler trailer truck along the Roman Highway here Monday night.
Corporal Clifford Cruzata, Samal police investigator, said Romnick Ramil who drove the kolong-kolong and his back rider Jamie Jimenez died on the spot.
Injured were Alfred David, Rosalie Jimenez and her three-year-old daughter Jam who were all confined at the Bataan General Hospital in Balanga City, and Emelita Suarez at the district hospital in Orani, Bataan. They were all in the kolong-kolong, the investigator said.
Cruzata said the baby appeared without injuries but has to be properly checked at the hospital considering the gravity of the collision. The mother, he said, sustained fractures on her shoulders.
The victims were on their way home to Barangay Magsaysay in Dinalupihan, Bataan after attending a wake in Abucay town. The trailer truck driven by Rusty Gomez of Concepcion, Tarlac, on the other hand, was travelling in the opposite direction on a downward slope.
The big truck suffered dents on its front bumper while the kolong-kolong snapped from its motorcycle. Broken vehicle parts and severed portions of the bodies of the fatalities were scattered on the concrete road.
Traffic temporarily stalled in the busy expressway until a firetruck arrived to clear the area of debris.
Cruzata said investigation was still going on.
