ORMOC CITY-Two individuals were killed in a gruesome road accident involving a motorcycle with sidecar and a heavily loaded dump truck that lost its brakes along a downhill stretch of the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Alejandrea, Jiabong, Samar around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 24.

According to authorities, the two victims, who were aboard the motorcycle with sidecar, were mutilated beyond recognition due to the force of the collision. Only body parts were recovered and later assembled at a local funeral home. The victims remain unidentified as of this writing.

The ten-wheeler dump truck, bearing plate number NKK 5599, is owned by Rush Company and was reportedly carrying a full load of cement at the time of the incident. Its driver, identified only as “Bern,” 37, from Barangay Sagkahan, Tacloban City, and his two helpers, “Lix,” 24, and “Fred,” 34, both from Barangay Canlapwas, Catbalogan City, sustained injuries and were taken to the Samar Provincial Hospital.

Based on the initial investigation by personnel of the Jiabong Municipal Police Station, led by PCpl. Roben Jones Coscolluela, the motorcycle with sidecar was navigating a downhill slope when it allegedly lost its brakes and veered into the opposite lane, colliding head-on with the approaching dump truck.

The impact sent the dump truck off the road, with the driver and his helpers becoming briefly trapped in the vehicle’s cabin before being rescued and rushed for medical treatment.

Authorities are still working to confirm the identities of the fatalities and have launched a deeper probe into the accident, including a mechanical inspection of both vehicles involved.

(ROBERT DEJON)