Three persons, all of them apparently not wearing safety helmets, were injured in Virac last Saturday when their motorcycle plunged off the road and into a dry creek bed.
The official report of the Virac police station stated that the traffic accident occurred at around 5:45 PM of April 6, 2024, along the provincial road leading to barangay Danicop and near a sari-sari store.
It said that the black motorcycle was driven by Edward Ilagan Tatad, 29, an unemployed resident of Sto. Niño, with Sheila Jamero, 24, of Calatagan Tibang, and Sheen Rose Briongos, 24, of San Roque as backriders.
The motorcycle was traversing the road from Sogod Tibgao and heading towards the Moonwalk junction road but upon reaching the corner, the driver lost control of the steering wheel due to a brake malfunction.
Instead of turning left towards Moonwalk junction, the vehicle veered straight towards embankment and fell off the road scattering its occupants on the stony bed of the dried-up creek.
Responding personnel of the Virac Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) brought the injured trio to the Eastern Bicol Medical Center for treatment of injuries to the different parts of their bodies.
A video posted on Facebook by Willy Fortades did not show any sign that Tatad and his two passengers were wearing safety helmets at the time.
It likewise showed at least two of the victims being moved by bystanders while waiting for emergency responders to arrive.
The report likewise did not state if the driver was under the influence of liquor at the time of the accident.
Incidentally, the mishap occurred just across the road from the concrete electric post where a scooter crashed in 2022, killing one of two passengers.
Gabriel Tolentino, 19, was driving a Honda Dio scooter with Gerald Solero Talion, 19, of Danicop as passenger, towards Moonwalk junction at about 3:30 AM of Sept. 18, 2022 when the driver lost control of the vehicle while going down the bridge.
It swerved to the left and smashed into the concrete post, with Talion apparently thrown from the backseat.
MDRRMO personnel brought the two teeners to the provincial hospital but Talion was declared dead on arrival.