20 killed as tourist bus falls into ravine in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines - Twenty people died and 24 were injured when a tourist bus carrying at least 55 passengers, mostly Iranian medical practitioners, fell into a 30-meter-deep ravine along Transcentral Highway in Barangay Cansamuroy, Balamban, Cebu at past 10 a.m. yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Lani-O Nerez, director of Police Regional Office-7, confirmed the death toll as of 7 p.m. The PRO 7 expects to recover more bodies once the bus is lifted from the crash site.

The bodies were flown to the military’s Central Command (Centcom) headquarters in a helicopter and transferred to private hospitals in Cebu City.

PO2 Cesar Climaco of the Balamban police station identified the fatalities as Shah Mary Sharan, 31; Ataa Bargh Chi, 5, and his father DV BargChi and mother Fojhan; Dr. Ali Kamrani of the Cebu Doctors University (CDU), nuclear medicine; Pedram Farjam, medical student of Gullas College of Medicine; Hamed Reza Hoori, also a medical student of Gullas College; Dr. Morteza Ghasem, resident of Pathology of CDU, Alfa Barg Chi, 16, Pasha Masoomabadi and Pasha Johani, both minors, and unidentified woman.

The bodies were taken to the Chong Hua Hospital, Cebu Doctors Hospital and Perpetual Succor Hospital.

The injured passengers were brought to the Balamban District Hospital. Others were flown by the Air Force to Centcom hospital.

Most of the passengers on board Cattleya Tourist Bus (GWZ-666) were postgraduate interns at the Gullas College and Cebu Doctors University. Six specialist doctors were also on board.

Saleh Hossainkhani, one of the survivors of the accident, said they were heading to Balamban for a one-day outing when bus apparently lost its brakes.

Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay said there was a public warning sign before the ravine that said: Shift to low gear to avoid accident.

Poorly maintained vehicles and roads, along with inadequate safety signs, railings, training and weak traffic law enforcement are blamed for many deadly road incidents in the Philippines. – Freeman News Service, AP, Cecile Suerte Felipe, Rudy Santos