17-Year-Old Cyclist Dies on Daang Kalikasan, Mangatarem, Pangasinan, 2020

Jmerca40 · #1 ● 02-17-2020, 11:20 AM

A 17-year-old Grade 11 student died Sunday, February 16, 2020, after he and his bicycle went into a ravine along the Daang Kalikasan provincial road in Barangay Muelang, Mangatarem, Pangasinan, in the Philippines.

Daang Kalikasan was a 14.6 km scenic mountain route that had been under construction since 2017 and was about 80 per cent complete. It was intended to connect Mangatarem with Santa Cruz in Zambales. Social media had helped make the road a popular destination, and increased visitor traffic was followed by a series of crashes. The Mangatarem chief of police said the road had recorded 12 road mishaps and seven deaths. He also cited forest fires caused by discarded cigarettes and problems with rubbish, and said the contractor was reporting that tourist traffic had delayed construction. On February 17, 2020, Daang Kalikasan and Daang Katutubo in Aguilar were closed to the public until construction was finished. The district congressman had recommended the closure to the public works department, the police and the local government.