12 die in Benguet bus mishap on 02-02-02

BAGUIO CITY — It is not established yet but for the fatalist, the second day of the second month of the second year of the second millennium (02-02-2002) is as deadly as Friday the 13th.

This was claimed yesterday afternoon as a bus bound for Kabayan town in Benguet province plunged into a ravine in Sitio Gurel, Barangay Ambuklao, Bokod town, killing 12 of its passengers and injuring several other passengers, a sketchy report coming from authorities who are still conducting rescue operations said.

Two injured passengers were taken to the Benguet General Hospital in the province’s capital town of La Trinidad, and several others at the Dennis Molintas Hospital in Daclan, Bokod, also in the said province, for treatment from their injuries.

The victims were not immediately identified.

The ill-fated Norton bus was plying the Kabayan-Baguio route that started 9 a.m. from its terminal in the city.

Civil Defense-Cordillera Director Vicente Tomazar said a still sketchy report from the Bokod police station bared that the accident happened between 12 noon-1 p.m. yesterday while the bus was negotiating the tricky dirt road to Kabayan town.

Ambulances from Baguio and Benguet were dispatched to the area when authorities learned that a bus met an accident along Bokod.

While rescue operations were being conducted as of press time, Tomazar expressed fears that the number of victims might rise as the ill-fated bus was the first trip in that route, where it is usually jampacked with passengers. — Artemio Dumlao