Bataan bus turns turtle; 30 injured

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines  – Thirty passengers of a mini-bus were injured when the vehicle turned turtle after it skidded off the highway in Bagac, Bataan last Monday afternoon.  

Chief Inspector George Santiago, Bagac police chief, said 11 of those injured, including bus driver Genaro Velasco, were later brought to a hospital in Balanga City in Bataan because their injuries were more serious.

Santiago said the victims were onboard a gray mini-bus owned by Velasco himself on their way to Bagac from Balanga.

He said most mini-buses traveling to Bagac are owned by the drivers themselves and sport no names like those of big bus lines.   

“It would seem that the vehicle lost break upon reaching Sitio Antipolo (in Barangay Binukawan). The problem was purely mechanical,” he said.

Santiago said investigators were still determining whether to file any charges against Velasco, who seemed to have sustained the most serious injuries on his back.

Velasco and the 10 other passengers remained confined yesterday. – With Ric Sapnu