Mindoro bus crash: 19 dead

MANILA, Philippines — A passenger bus careened off a winding dirt road and fell into a ravine in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro on Tuesday, killing 19 people and injuring 21 others.

Police said the Dimple Star passenger bus was negotiating a downhill stretch of road that had been under repair. The bus struck the railing of the Patrick Bridge in Barangay Batong Buhay before falling 20 meters into a  ravine.

A mechanical problem may have caused the driver Arno Panganiban to lose control of the bus, police investigator Alexis Go said.

“A surviving passenger recalled the driver yelling at them to hold on because the bus had lost its brakes,” Go said.

“Then the passenger remembered everything tumbling around inside the bus, he heard a loud crash and he passed out,” he added.

The bus came from San Jose town in Mindoro and was headed to Metro Manila when the accident occurred around 9 p.m., police said.

The bus slammed into some stone barricades on the roadside ahead of the bridge and then fell off the road into the ravine.

The impact killed the driver Panganiban, bus conductor Erwin Ebuenga and four passengers in the front rows of seats, police said.

The four fatalities were identified as Leaflor Borlado, Cely Dama, Marciano Ramos and Rudy Bacani.

An infant near the front survived after a relative embraced the baby and the seat cushion prevented him from being pinned to death.

Regional police spokesperson Supt. Imelda Tolentino identified the other fatalities as Teresita Tupagan, Elizabeth dela Cruz, Virginia Ramos, Lolita Bayle, Anselma Gomez, Gilbert Laguardia Jr., Robert Joso, Josie Salcedo, Judith Gabuco, Nelie Alvaro, Gloria Gabuco, Rodolfo Santiago and Percival Flores.?The 21 injured passengers, including four children, were brought to Mamburao District Hospital and San Sebastian District Hospital.

Tolentino said the Provincial and Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management offices are now working with local police to investigate the accident.

She said investigators will also determine the liability of the bus firm.

Photographs showed the green and white Dimple Star Transport bus lying precariously on the edge of a dry canal at the bottom of the ravine. Rescuers peered into the bus cabin with flashlights attached to their foreheads.

Investigators will try to determine if brake failure or other mechanical problem caused the accident.

An LTFRB offi cer shows a worn tire of a Dimple Star bus during an inspection at the bus company’s terminal in Cubao, Quezon City yesterday. MICHAEL VARCAS

Investigators added there were no skid marks on the road where the bus plunged off the cliff.

Following the crash, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) grounded 10 units of Dimple Star.

The LTFRB issued a 30-day preventive suspension order against one of the franchises of Dimple Star covering the bus involved in the accident.

The order effectively suspends the franchise or certificate of public convenience (CPC) of Dimple Star covering the bus route from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro to Manila via Mamburao, Abra de Ilog. 

The bus company has been ordered to surrender the license plates of the buses covered by the suspension by Friday.

It was also directed to explain within three days why its franchise should not be suspended or revoked over the accident. The company has a fleet of 120 bus units under 10 CPCs.

The order also said the bus company should have its buses inspected and undergo the Motor Vehicle Inspection Service and have its operators, drivers and personnel undergo a road safety seminar and a compulsory drug test.

The LTFRB yesterday conducted an inspection of Dimple Star’s terminal in Cubao, Quezon City.

LTFRB spokesperson Aileen Lizada said the management of Dimple Star has agreed to ground its other units until its buses are inspected. 

She added the bus company’s operator, Hilbert Napat, has promised to assist the injured passengers.

Highway fatalities are alarmingly high in the country due to poor traffic law enforcement, the dilapidated conditions of vehicles and a lack of safety features like signs and railings, especially in far-flung provinces.

Sen. Grace Poe, who advocates for traffic safety, conveyed her sympathies to the families of the victims while also lamenting that such accidents are preventable.

Poe called for support of a Senate bill that would create a National Transportation Safety Board and other steps such as inspections of public transportation vehicles and strict drivers’ licensing.

“To use a driving term, we need a dashboard of solutions to stop this bloody mess on our streets. This would range from a preventive and preemptive garage inspection of public vehicles, to strict driver’s licensing, to the use of devices like GPS and speed delimiters,” Poe said.

She said last Tuesday’s accident was a reminder of how dangerous public transportation is in the Philippines.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Poe noted that as of 2014, a total of 43,853 deaths have been recorded as a result of vehicular accidents.

“Sadly, the list of tragic road accidents and their casualties continue to increase because vehicles that are not roadworthy or even those we label as rolling coffins are still allowed to ply the roads with near impunity,” Poe said.

Poe noted the Dimple Star bus that was involved in the accident in Occidental Mindoro was involved in similar incidents in the past.

Records from the Passenger Accident Management and Insurance Agency showed Dimple Star has been involved in four other fatal accidents in the last five years. – Marvin Sy, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Romina Cabrera, Arnell Ozaeta, Ed Amoroso, AP