ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija – Five people were killed while their driver was hurt when their pickup truck rammed a tree along the Aliaga-Quezon Road in Barangay La Purisima here on Monday morning, police said.
Senior Supt. Manuel Cornel, Nueva Ecija police director, said the pickup truck’s passengers  John Bryan Lopez, 25; Marvin Jimenez, 24; Joel Calderon, 21; Estelito Mendoza, 20; and Sherwin Almazar, 20, died while being rushed to a rural health facility in this town following the accident at 1:15 a.m.
The driver, Romeo Almazar, 25, was injured and taken to the Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center in Cabanatuan City.
Cornel said Almazar lost control of the wheel when the group reached a curve along the Aliaga-Quezon Road, causing their pickup to hit a tree.