Burnt rubber, a crash and then screams

MANILA, Philippines - The tour bus began reeking of burnt rubber as soon as the students settled into the vehicle at around 6:30 a.m. yesterday.

On the way to a resort in Tanay, the bus engine repeatedly died and re-started, with the burnt odor getting stronger as they drove on, so that they decided to open the windows.

Some of the passengers, mainly students of BestLink College Philippines in Quezon City, began worrying.

Near their destination around two hours later, the bus hurtled around a blind curve, rolled over and slammed into the mountain side and an electric post as it tried to avoid a ravine in Barangay Sampaloc in Tanay, Rizal.

Then the screaming started.

One of the survivors, a freshman in information technology who requested not to be named, said they were transferred to the bus from another vehicle when they got to their school yesterday morning.

He noticed that the driver took a different route, perhaps to catch up with the other buses as they were the last to leave the school.

He said he did not notice if the bus was running fast because of the open windows but they started to panic.

Another victim said some of them were still able to sleep but the burnt rubber odor became very strong half-way through their trip.

The two survivors recalled that when the bus was going down the steep road, the engine suddenly shut down and the brakes did not work.

“Yung bus paikot-ikot na. Nagpanic na lahat kasi bangin na po yun. Nasabi ko na lang po na Lord kayo na po ang bahala (The bus was turning out of control so we panicked because there was a ravine. I just left my fate to God),” the second survivor said.

When they were about to reach the ravine, the bus swerved left and rolled over before hitting the mountainside.

When the IT student got up, his classmates and schoolmates were in shock. Nobody moved at first but they came back to reality after hearing grunts, one of the loudest coming from the driver’s seat, and they started to panic.

He heard his schoolmates screaming for help and he also started screaming.

He said one of the first things he saw after the accident was a schoolmate pinned between the bus and the rocks. The victim seemed lifeless with his head bloodied.

The IT student was in the fourth seat on the right, but he did not see any of his his seatmates.

He made his way up the aisle to the driver, who was pinned between the steering wheel and chair.

He tried to pry the driver from the seat, but the “big man” would not budge.

Behind the driver, a woman was awake but was pinned in the seat, not knowing one of their school officials was underneath her.

When he pulled her out with the help of some bystanders, she said she could no longer feel her legs but a school official, who they called “Governor,” was in worse shape with his face bloodied and his teeth missing.

The boy said he didn’t know the worst part was coming. The Governor’s right calf bone was sticking out of the flesh while his left knee was disfigured.

When he got back to helping the driver, his moans were getting soft and several men had to help him dislodge the driver from the seat.

The next thing he knew, he was sitting on the ground, seeing his injured schoolmates and the dead laid out in front of them by the rescuers.

The survivors were brought to different hospitals. Their group was first rushed to Camp Capinpin Hospital but were later transferred to the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center in Marikina. – With Ghio Ong, Janvic Mateo