4 pastors among 10 Koreans who died in P’sinan road accident

BOLINAO, Pangasinan – Relatives of the 10 Koreans who died in a road mishap along the national highway in Barangay Sampaloc this town past noon Wednesday arrived here and identified the bodies.

Four of them were pastors of a Born Again Christian group while two were honeymooners.

In a list provided by retired Philippine Air Force Col. Cesar Manzano, owner of the Gethsemane Memorial Park Inc./Funeral Parlor in Barangay Palamis, Alaminos City where the victims were brought, showed that the casualties were identified as: Lee In Chul, businessman; Park Sung Don, male, pastor; Jeong Jeong Hee, housewife; Park Pu Ah, housewife; Park Soo Jin, male, pastor; Park Tae Sung, male, pastor; Han Youn Oh, housewife; Lee Su-Keon, male, mechanical engineer; Kwac Byung Bae, male, pastor; and Choi Mi Kyung, five years old, female, student.

Their relatives who arrived at the funeral parlor, however, refused to talk to local newsmen.

Nine of the casualties were set to be brought to Manila yesterday and would be flown to Korea while one would be brought to Baguio City for burial.

The accident happened when the Hyundai van they rode in from Baguio City en route to Garden Paradise Resort in this town rammed into the concrete wall of a warehouse in the middle of heavy rainfall.

The victims wore swimming attire when the accident happened as they reportedly dropped by Alaminos City for a swim at the Hundred Islands before proceeding to their billeting area here.

“It looks like they were asleep when the tragic incident happened because witnesses said they did not hear shouts,” Manzano said.

Senior Inspector Rizaldy Dalope, Bolinao police chief, told The STAR that they returned to the accident site noon time yesterday with the victims’ relatives and recovered their other belongings.

He said the blue green van, (RDN 423), where the victims rode in was already old and was a total wreck.

It was said to have encountered mechanical defects that caused the accident while it was speeding on the road.

Dalope said they were already finalizing their reports that would be needed for the bodies to be brought home to Korea.

He said the Koreans arrived in the Philippines a few days ago only.