Three young volunteers died yesterday in a tragic car accident while doing rescue efforts for Taal Volcano eruption victims in San Jose, Batangas, Philippines. Police report has confirmed the death of Darwin Lajara (26 years old), Rio Abel (22 years old), and Maximino Alcantara III (22 years old) on their way back home after doing a relief operation to hundreds of evacuees on the said place. The accident happened at around 1:30 am on January 14, Tuesday.
On their way while along the Banaybanay I national highway in San Jose, The Mitsubishi Lancer driven by Maximino crashed with a trailer truck that was entering a gate, leading to his instant death along with Abel. Meanwhile, Dawin Lajara was rushed to the nearest hospital but also died a few hours later. As of this moment, there is no information so far regarding the funeral wake of these three brave young volunteers.
According to a social media post by a person named Maria Cristina Floren, Rio Abel, born on May 22, 1997, was a former SK chairman in Batangas and was a chef in a Japanese restaurant named Marugame Philippines before his death happened. Meanwhile, there is no further information yet about Darwin Lajara aside from where he lived which is also in San Jose, Batangas. Both Abel and Lajara are students from De La Salle University.
In the meantime, the Province of Cavite was declared under “state of calamity” yesterday by its officials as a result of a meeting. As of now, Taal volcano remains at alert level number 4 according to PHIVOLCS advisory this morning. It still threatens hazardous eruption at any time within hours or days. There were 200 evacuation centers so far in Batangas and Cavite, catering 40,000 evacuees, according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). So far, there have been 53,000 reported persons affected by Taal volcano’s eruption. Most of these victims still need donations of any kinds and authorities are still inviting volunteers to help the victims.
Sources:
- Featured Photo: Photo: Darwin Lajara, Rio Abel, and Maximino Alcantara III Facebook
- https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/1/15/taal-volunteers-die.html
- https://www.philstar.com/happens/841
- https://www.facebook.com/rio.i.o.16
- https://www.vice.com/en_asia/article/pkepk7/taal-volcano-relief-volunteers-die-car-crash-drive-home
- https://theworldnews.net/ph-news/3-young-lads-who-provided-assistance-to-taal-victims-dies-in-accident