TUBURAN, Cebu — Five persons, four of them children, were killed while three others were seriously injured when a pick-up truck rammed into a group of people attending a wake in Barangay Fortaleza, this town, last Friday night.

What started as a show of respect for their departed loved one turned tragic when a Nissan Frontier with a busted wheel plowed into a crowd of mourners, killing Richard Tapil, 5; Janine Tajanlangit, 7; Janine Oros, 10; Jessica Sayson, 14; and Levy Tapil 34.

The driver of the vehicle, Anthony Cabintoy, 26, said he was driving back to his house in Barangay Carmelo with his five-year-old son and father-in-law at around 7:30 p.m. when the rear right tire of his truck exploded.

Cabintoy lost control of his pick-up and ploughed into some vehicles parked by the roadside. First to be hit by Cabintoy’s pick-up was a motorcycle, followed by a tricycle and then the group of people attending the wake.

"It happened so fast; there was a loud bang and then the truck was hitting people attending the wake," said Gina Antonio, among those in the wake who was treated for injuries at the Tuburan District Hospital.

Cabintoy himself, along with other witnesses, said the vehicle was running at a moderate speed when the tire exploded. Sources said they heard a loud bang and then saw the vehicle heading at a fast clip directly towards where the crowd was.

Senior Inspector Timar Alam of the Tuburan Police Station said Cabintoy left the scene for fear that relatives of the victims would gang up on him. He surrendered to the police the following day, Saturday.

The police will be filing appropriate charges against the driver Monday.

This summer, deadly road mishaps have been occurring across the country in the past few days, including the 12 people who perished in a bus accident in La Union, followed by another in North Cotabato where nine people died, and then in Bataan where seven were killed and Quezon Province where four perished. (With a report by Aaron Recuenco).