THE year of the water snake was greeted with a freak vehicular accident along the national highway near the Sandugo shrine, barangay Bo-ol, this city, which resulted to nine persons seriously injured, including two priests. A white-and gray Toyota Hi-Ace van-for-hire was heading to this city from Carmen town appeared out of its supposedly right side of the road when it collided head-on with an incoming Green Isuzu Trooper running in an opposite direction. The Isuzu with license plate No. GJR-860 was reportedly owned by Fr. Warren Abarquez of Maribojoc parish with companion Fr. Johnson Ente of Clarin parish. The van-for-hire with yellow license plate no.GXP-427 was driven by a certain Ronald Balose, 34, of Sta. Cruz, this city. Nobody actually saw how the head-on collision occurred but some witnesses said they saw the van-for-hire strayed from its right side lane of the highway.

Aside from the two priests, Erica Mae Torrefranca, 11; Vanessa Manayaga, 14; Maricar Manayaga, 10; Hannah Jean Torrefranca, 10; Anna Marie Vallente, 29, all of Carmen town; Teofanes Yong, 56 of Getafe town were all injured badly. With the help of speeding Tarsier 117 rescue vehicles, the injured were immediately brought to the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital while the priests to Ramiro Hospital for separate treatment, the report said. A witness said a woman who was sitting front seat of the van-for-hire was trapped because of the van’s door was pushed and crashed to the hood of the SUV that made its door hard to open. Rescuers had to destroy the van’s door to save the woman, he said. The head-on collision of the two vehicles appeared like bulls locked their horns literally that policemen and barangay folks could hardly untangle the vehicles. The engine of the van-for-hire appeared broke as indicated by its leaked and spilt of engine oil. The police probers, while inspecting the collided vehicles, also discovered a handgun inside the van-for-hire.