By CESAR JOLITO III

Nine employees of the Bayawan City local government unit, including the driver, were killed after a dump truck carrying crude oil containers overshot a descending road and plunged into a ravine in the city’s Barangay Kalamtukan yesterday.

Police Captain Stephen Polinar, Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office spokesperson, said initial investigations showed the dump truck, owned by the city government, was loaded with five containers of crude oil for some government vehicles.

Polinar said the truck came from Barangay Manduao and was traversing the road in Sitio Mansintak when its brakes malfunctioned.

The vehicle overshot the road, fell off a cliff, and crashed straight into the river, resulting in multiple fatal injuries.

“There were no survivors,” Polinar said, adding that the truck was totally wrecked by the impact.

The victims were identified as Diomedes Canoy, Kervin Andog, Larry Llamos, Ronel Cabasag, Jonathan Hamor, Jovanie Babor, Jonaryl Caguisa, Warren Aseñas, and driver Egmedio Arnaiz.

The victims were initially transported to Kalumboyan Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.

Police teams immediately proceeded to the hospital to conduct further investigation.

Authorities are continuing to look into the circumstances surrounding the crash, including road conditions and possible mechanical factors./CJ, WDJ