KIDAPAWAN CITY — Seven persons were electrocuted while on board a tricycle in Kabacan, North Cotabato on Sunday afternoon.
Chief Insp. Ronnie Cordero, Kabacan town police chief, identified the victims as tricycle driver Maguid Akas, 55, of Barangay Cuyapon, Kabacan; Salamina Sabal, 48; Norhamen Esmael, 34; Nano Mautin Lumayog, 38; Tanbang Lumban Mangatog, 42; Lampana Lumban Daodi, 45; and Ika Lumban, 40.
Cordero said the victims, who are all fish vendors from the neighboring Datu Montawal town in Maguindanao, were on their way home after a day’s work at the Kabacan market around 3:30 p.m. when a strong wind toppled an old wooden post along the road in interior Sitio Macabenban, Barangay Cuyapon.
“They were enjoying the ride when a gust of wind toppled an electric post and directly hit the pedicab and its wires sparked,” Cordero said, adding that the victims sustained minor burns and are now confined at the Kabacan Polymedic Hospital.
The Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) has apologized to the victims following the incident and has promised to shoulder all their medical expenses. The firm also pledged to change the wooden posts in the area with concrete ones. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
