By: Villamor C. Visaya Jr. – Philippine Daily Inquirer Correspondent/GMA Stringer
TUGUEGARAO CITY — Five people died and nine others were injured after a tourist van fell from a 50-meter ravine and crashed into a river in Sadanga town in Mountain Province on Friday night, April 4.
Sadanga police, in a report Saturday (April 5) said the van was transporting the tourists to Buscalan village in Tinglayan, Kalinga to see the famous tattoo artist Whang-od when the accident happened.
It occurred in Sitio (sub-village) Ampawilen in Barangay (village) Poblacion at 10 p.m.
Declared dead on the spot were van driver Vance Quinto Hernandez Jr., 45 and a resident of Bulacan; Gerardo Navarro, 36, from Zamboanga; Veronica Hipolito, 36, of South Cotabato; and an unidentified woman who wore a gray shirt and black leggings, police said.
Another passenger, Jay Niño Belando, died while being taken to the Bontoc General Hospital in Bontoc.
The report said the injured were also taken to the same hospital for treatment.
They were identified as Mary Joy Reyes, 45, from Manila; Archie Reyes, 25, also from Manila; Cherish Quimpan, 20, resident of Cavite; Manuel Lap, 26, of Batangas; Elvis Acupan, 25, of Ilocos Norte; Ham Sua, 23, of Tagaytay; Arlette Sarmiento, 23, of Ilocos Norte; Christine Cuidamat, 20, of Tagaytay, and Dan Dacoycoy, 24, of Ilocos Norte.
Police are still investigating the incident.#
