4 cops die as truck falls off cliff

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Four police officers died when their truck fell into a ravine in Alimodian, Iloilo yesterday afternoon.

Thirty-one other officers, including their commander Maj. Bonifacio Alabe, were taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries.

The fatalities were identified as Cpl. Emerson Peñarubia and Patrolmen Rex Agupitan, Angelo Supiter and Antonio Tumanday Jr.

The officers of the 601st Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion were on their way back to the headquarters from patrol duties when they figured in the accident at around 1 p.m., according to Col. Paul Kenneth Lucas, Iloilo police chief.

Reports said the truck with 35 officers on board was travelling down the road in Barangay Ginomoy when it developed engine trouble.

The vehicle rolled back and fell into the ravine.

Three of the victims died at the scene. The other was declared dead on arrival in a hospital.

Volunteers and members of a local rescue team as well as police officers and firefighters rushed to the scene.

The team had difficulty extracting the victims as the site was steep, according to Lt. Col. Joem Malong, Western Visayas police chief.

Alabe was pinned under the vehicle and was the last to be removed. The rescue team had to use a backhoe to remove him.

The victims were first rushed to the nearby Aleosan District Hospital in Alimodian.

They were transferred to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao and Iloilo Mission Hospital in Jaro, both in Iloilo City.

Lucas ordered responding police officers to secure the victims’ belongings.