Thirteen people – all relatives and including five minors – died after a sports utility vehicle driven by a jail officer fell into an irrigation canal in Tabuk City in Kalinga late Sunday afternoon.
According to Police Staff Sgt. Zaldy Chumacog, the driver, Soy Lope Agtulao, 36, lost control of his Ford Everest, causing it to be submerged under water.
“There was a curved area along the irrigation canal. He was perhaps not familiar with the road,” Chumacog told Manila Standard in an interview.
“The vehicle was submerged in deep waters. Malalim yung irrigation,” he added.
Agtulao's two children as well as his father and sister were among those who perished in the accident.
Of the 15 passengers, only two survived – Agtulao's 10-year-old son and a female relative identified as Edith Perez.
Eleven of the victims were brought to the Mejia Kim Medical Center where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
Two of the fatalities, including the driver, were declared DOA at the Kalinga Provincial Hospital.
