9 Pinoys in hospital after Japan bus crash

MANILA, Philippines - Nine Filipinos seriously injured in a road accident in Japan remain confined in six different hospitals, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Quoting a report from the Philippine consulate general in Osaka, the DFA said 12 slightly injured Filipinos in the road accident in Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture have been discharged from hospital.

The victims were injured in a road accident on Sunday when their minibus collided with a truck at an intersection.

Six other passengers died in the accident.

Twenty-six Filipinos, including one naturalized Japanese citizen, were on their way to work at the Sharp Kameyama facility when the accident occurred.

The minibus driver, a Japanese citizen, was also among the injured. 

Kameyama police authorities arrested the truck driver, 45-year-old Takao Moriwaki.

The truck driver was required to stop at the crossroads.

In an earlier statement, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) identified the dead Filipinos as Mabini Bangi Paler III, 30; Analou Paler Dogami, 30; Randy Bayron Cornel, 30; Alma Dula Adarlo, 33; Remedios Bertoldo Cargullo, 24; and Ceferino Salengua Pedro Jr., 28. 

Adarlo was a Japanese citizen, according to the president of Sharp Kamemaya.

The rest were classified as nikei-jin (of Japanese descent) or holders of long-term Japanese resident visas.

Two of the injured are trainees.

Sharp Kameyama, along with the consulate general is working on the documentation requirements for the disposition of the victims’ remains, as well as extending assistance to those in hospital.

Sharp Kameyama is in touch with the next of kin of those who died in the accident.