Bus accident in Cebu leaves 7 dead, 42 injured

MANILA, Philippines - A speeding passenger bus slammed into a concrete wall after its brakes failed while negotiating a downhill curve, leaving seven people dead and 42 others injured in Toledo City, Cebu last Saturday night.

Police identified the fatalities as Erineo Umba, 59; Virgilio Canabaño, 54; Melinda Limbang, 48; Jose Agrix Baraquil, 29; Thelma Sipalay, 24; Cherry Ann Nillama, 16, and Delfa Baratbate.

The injured were brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), the Toledo District Hospital and the Don Andres Soriano Hospital.

Police arrested Jegans bus driver Allan Pastidio, 40, who was also injured and was treated at a hospital for wounds in his back and ear.

Investigators said the brakes of the Jegans bus malfunctioned while negotiating the downhill curve of the national highway in Barangay Don Andres Soriano.

Pastidio, now detained at the Toledo City Police Station, said he escaped from the hospital and went to his residence in Aloguinsan town where he surrendered to local police.

He said the brakes of the bus malfunctioned a few meters away from the accident site.

He said everything happened so fast that he was not able to shout at the already panicking passengers, and just chose to close his eyes and waited for the bus to hit the concrete fence.

He said it was supposedly his third and last trip for the day.

Grachel Yaquit, 30, a relative of Marie Bacalso, who owns the house near the accident site, said the latest mishap was the fifth time that a traffic accident occurred near the residence.

Past accidents prompted the house owners to construct a stronger perimeter wall.

Pinamungahan town Mayor Geraldine Yapha, whose family owns the Jegans bus line, said she would go to the hospital immediately to check on the injured passengers and offer help.

The accident took place near the same spot where a VJ&A bus slammed a concrete wall, killing 15 passengers and wounding 65 others on July 4, 2010.

Police Investigator Celso Makidato said the impact of the latest accident hurled the bus conductor out of the vehicle.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Third District Rep. Pablo John Garcia visited the victims confined at the VSMMC yesterday morning.

They pledged to shoulder the burial expenses of the seven fatalities and also provide assistance to the injured victims.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 7 director Ahmed Cuizon said that the agency had suspended the operations of three of the 11 Jegans buses.

The three buses were suspended because they all have the same franchise number.

“This is the LTFRB’s new rule which was implemented last year. We will only suspend buses that fall under the same franchise number unlike before that we will suspend all the buses,” said Cuizon. Gregg Rubio, Marigold Lebumfacil, and Niña Sumacot/Freeman, AP