8 killed, 16 hurt in Camarines accident

NAGA CITY — Eight people, including six children, drowned after the passenger jeepney they were riding fell off a bridge into a river in Tinambac, Camarines Sur on Sunday morning.

Police inspector Teddy Dominguez, head of the Camarines Sur Traffic Management, identified the fatalities who were rushed to the Tinambac Community Hospital as Gloria Agor, 47; Romeo Agor, 7; and a certain Ubalde Jr.; all from Barangay Buenavista, including a certain Lyka Quinones, 4; Joel Capal, 7; and one-year-old Joel Angelo Capal, al l from Barangay Union, as well as a certain Ubosan, 20, and a 55-year-old unidentified woman from Barangay Caglelong, all from Tinabac town, Camarines Sur. Most of the passengers drowned.

According to the report, the victims on aboard the jeepney with plate number DVN-157 was cruising to Naga City from Caglililog, Tinambac, Camarines Sur at about 8:15 a.m. when it malfunctioned upon reaching the Pasusuhan Bridge at Sitio Hulugan, Barangay Camagong.

The jeepney, driven by Tong dela Torre, the report said, then went out of control and fell off the bridge into the river, immediately drowning the victims.

According to reports, 16 other passengers of the ill-fated jeepney were injured and were rushed to the Bicol Medical Center for treatment. Some were still in critical condition, according to Dominguez.

The driver immediately fled the scene after the incident and is still being sought by the police.

Probers said that the jeepney’s transmission malfunctioned while moving uphill causing the vehicle to move backwards and fell at the Pasongsongan River. Dominguez also said that 11 persons were killed while 17 others were wounded when a passenger jeepney evading a pothole collided with an incoming Raymond bus in Tagkawayan town recently. — Mike Frialde and Celso Amo