2 young boys die, three others hurt as AUV plunges into Bontoc ravine

June 18, 2022 Provincial

MT. PROVINCE – Two young boys died while three others, including the parents and brother of one of the boys who died, were hurt when the Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV) they were riding home to Sabangan plunged into a ravine at 10:10 Thursday night in Barangay Gonogon, Bontoc town in Mountain Province.
The fatalities are Fausto Querido Ballakis, Jr., male, 11, whose body was brought to his residence in Sabangan, and Nathan James Oloan Ballakis, male, 4, whose body was brought home at Samoki, also in Bontoc town.
Those hurt were the 11-year-old boy’s parents— Jeranie Querido Ballakis, female, 50; and Fausto Langagan Ballakis, Sr., 51; both brought to the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital (LHMRH) for Orthopedic management— and his older brother Fernan Querido Ballakis, 18, who drove the vehicle was admitted at the Bontoc General Hospital.
According to the Bontoc Emergency Operations Center, the Bontoc town police received a call about the vehicular traffic accident involving a grey Tamaraw FX AUV with five passengers on board which fell into a 25-30-meter ravine along Bawi, Barangay Gonogon, Bontoc Mountain Province.
Investigators found out that the victims came from Bontoc and were on their way home to Sabangan town but the driver fell asleep.
The AUV reportedly landed on the riverside some 20-30 meters below the highway.
Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN