Drunkenness and recklessness of three drivers caused death to a Thai national and injuries to 59 others in three accidents in Negros Occidental, police yesterday said.

Thai national Samrong Pitakard, 47, died, after he was ran over yesterday by a cargo truck loaded with sugarcane at the Mabini Highway in Brgy. Zone 1, Talisay City .

Eighteen persons, including six teachers, were hurt yesterday when the passenger jeep they were riding swerved and fell into a canal in Hacienda Alegria, Brgy. E. Lopez, Silay City .

On Thursday night, forty participants in the Lubay-Lubay Festival also landed in three government hospitals after the mini-dump truck they were riding also fell on its side along the highway of Sitio Kalasag, Brgy. Basak, Cauayan.

Police investigations show that Daryl Nombrado, 23, and Yashamar Agudon, 20, drivers of a cargo truck and passenger jeep, respectively, were under the influence of liquor, when they figured in the accidents within a period of seven hours yesterday.

Supt. Joseph Thomas Martir, Talisay police chief, said Pitakard and his brother-in-law, Romeo Pasustento, 43, were riding a motorcycle when they were hit by a Hino cargo truck driven by Nombrado.

Pitakard was thrown from the motorcycle and was ran over by the cargo truck, while Pasustento only sustained bruises, police investigations showed.

Pitakard who arrived in Talisay City on Jan. 9 to visit his wife, was declared dead on arrival at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City .

Martir said Nombrado is now locked up in jail and faces charges for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property.

Supt. Roderick Alba said Agudon was also observed to be under the influence of liquor when the accident in Silay City happened.

Alba said the 18 passengers, who included six public school teachers, were also hurt, although not seriously.

Police investigations also showed that 35 of the 40 participants of a dance festival in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, who figured in the accident on Thursday night, are minors.

Eleven of the victims are now being treated for fractured legs, ribs and hands at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Hospital in Bacolod City , while others went home after treatment at the Cauayan and Kabankalan District Hospitals in southern Negros .

Cauayan Mayor John Rey Tabujara said the 40 victims were supposed to participate the Lubay-Lubay Festival yesterday, in connection with the town annual fiesta.

Initial police investigations also showed that the mini-dump truck of Brgy. Camalandaan, Cauayan, driven by Pedro Acosta, was overloaded with passengers when the accident took place.*GPB

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