A Filipino and his four daughters died in a car crash near Townsend, Delaware, while on their way home from a vacation, state police said Saturday.
The man’s wife, 53-year-old Mary Rose Ballocanag, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, survived the crash, initial reports said.
The family was cruising along Delaware Highway 1 on Friday when a pick-up truck hit their car as it crossed the road’s grassy median strip, Ballocanag’s aunt, Lydia Agas, told ABS-CBN News.
Agas said Ballocanag was sleeping during the accident and woke up with her husband’s lifeless body across her lap.
A Fox News Report identified Ballocanag’s New Jersey-based husband as Audie Marquez Trinidad and their daughters as Kaitlyn, 20; Danna, 17; and twins Allison and Melissa, 13.
An initial investigation from Delaware authorities found that Ballocanag and her husband were wearing seat belts. The girls, however, were not.
The driver of the pickup, a 44-year-old man from East New Market, Maryland, was treated and released. He was wearing a seatbelt. The cause of the crash was under investigation
The Filipino American Society of Teaneck, New Jersey, created an online fundraiser for Ballocanag’s medical expenses. A total of 1,920 concerned people raised $70,777 in less than 16 hours.