Cop dead, 6 others hurt in Maguindanao road accident

COTABATO CITY — A police corporal died, while four of his companions and two crime suspects were injured in a highway accident in Barangay Gang in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte late Sunday.

Lt. Col. Esmael A. Madin, chief of the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station, said on Monday that Cpl. Cairodin P. Rumidas, of the Buldon Municipal Police Station in Maguindanao del Norte, succumbed to injuries in a hospital where he and his companions and the two law offenders were brought by emergency responders for treatment.

Mr. Rumidas and his companions, driver Cpl. Baseron A. Aratuc, Patrolmen Diamalodin B. Esmail and Ismael A. Tagadaya, and Staff Sgt. Musa D. Calocop, were on their way home to Buldon from the laboratory in Cotabato City of the Police Regional Forensic Unit-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. Within their custody were two crime suspects Jehar M. Panot and Saidin S. Panot, tested for use of illegal drugs.

Mr. Madin said Mr. Aratuc lost control of the wheel when the highway in Barangay Gang in Sultan Kudarat became slippery due to a sudden heavy downpour, causing the accident.

The patrol vehicle swerved with force towards the side of the highway and hit a house, according to Mr. Madin.

Brig. Gen. Romeo J. Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters that they will provide the family of Mr. Rumidas with financial support and help facilitate his immediate burial according to Islamic tradition of burying the dead within 24 hours after death. — John Felix M. Unson