4 dead in collision of van, 2 motorcycles in Cotabato province

COTABATO CITY — Four Moro motorists were killed when a van driven by a drunk driver rammed two motorcycles in an unlit stretch of a highway in Kabacan, Cotabato on Monday night.

Major Maxim Peralta, chief of the Kabacan municipal police, told reporters on Tuesday that the van of the now detained Marcelino Zacaria first wiggled uncontrollably, swerved towards the other lane and hit the two motorcycles approaching from the opposite direction of the highway in Sitio Lumayong in Barangay Kayaga.

Mohaimen Bangkailan, Almina Bangkailan, Nasser Cadulong and Kalya Sacandal, who were riding separate motorcycles in pairs, died instantly from injuries caused by the accident.

Peralta has a certificate from a physician stating that Marcelino was under the influence of liquor when he figured in the accident.

The document was issued after Marcelino was examined by doctors in a hospital where he was brought by policemen when they noticed he was drunk and acted strangely at the scene of the deadly highway mishap.