Cagayan De Oro City — Five hitchhikers were killed and two others injured Sunday afternoon after a 10-wheeler truck loaded with pineapples veered off the road and crashed into two houses in Bukidnon province.
The victims — three women and two men — were reportedly hitching a ride on the truck from a pineapple farm in Sitio Kulani when the vehicle developed mechanical trouble around 2 p.m. in Barangay Lurugan.
According to police, the truck lost control and slammed into two residences along the highway in Purok 4. The impact threw the passengers from the vehicle and struck two pedestrians.
Mariano Sase, a 72-year-old resident, said he was about to leave his room when a thunderous noise shook his home. He discovered the truck had pulverized the front section of the house.