15 dead in Cebu bus crash

CEBU, Philippines – At least 15 people, including four children, were killed and 48 others injured when a bus lost its brakes and rammed a concrete wall along the road in Barangay Don Andres Soriano in Toledo City last Saturday.

Investigation showed the bus was traveling from Cebu City to the northern town of Tuburan when the accident occurred around 5:45 p.m.

The dead and injured passengers were sitting on the right side of the bus.

Five of the dead passengers were identified as Alfredo Pastillas, 55, of Toledo City; Flordelez Benting, 37, of Tuburan; her son Cyril, 10; her adopted son Sian Vincent Bazarte, 5; and Maximo Agsoy, 55, of Tuburan.

Their bodies were brought to the St. Francis Memorial Home.

Driver Diosdado Requizo said he grazed the wall to prevent the bus from crashing into a school.

He made the decision to prevent more people from getting injured, he added.

Traffic investigator Police Officer 3 Julius Sanchez said 10 passengers were killed on the spot, while five others died at the Toledo City Hospital.

Requizo reportedly went stiff, perhaps from shock, after the accident and a motorcyclist had to pull him out of his seat and bring him to the police station for his safety.

The bus has a seating capacity of 53 people.

However, Sanchez said about 60 to 70 passengers were on board the bus at the time of the accident.

Several of them were already standing on the aisle.

Quoting records from the Land Transportation Office, a report over radio dyAB said the franchise of the bus had already expired in 2004.

The concrete wall on which the bus had grazed was built purposely to prevent vehicles from ramming into the houses along the road.

In a statement, Corominas Bros., the bus operator assured families of the victims that it will not abandon its responsibilities.

“Corominas Bros. stands by its commitment as operator,” read the statement.

“We will not renege (on) our responsibility to those who were injured and to the casualties.

“Even as we await the official findings of the proper investigating agencies we are also, on our own, double checking all units to ensure the safety of the riding public most of whom we’ve known and served well for more than three decades.”

Saturday’s accident occurred barely two weeks after a prime mover truck carrying two 20-foot container vans lost its breaks and plowed through a crowd in Barangay Poog, also in Toledo City at the eve of a feast on June 22.

Four people were killed and eight others were injured in that accident.

Nine days before that on June 13, at least 21 people, including 20 Iranians, died when a bus owned by JT rent-a-car plunged into a 50-foot ravine in Cansomoroy in Balamban.

The most recent accident happened on June 24 when a unit of Ceres Bus fell on its side while traveling in Barangay Damolog in the northern town of Sogod.

Two of the 12 injured people - a three-year-old girl and a 79-year-old woman - sustained fractures and injuries in the leg and arm.

Edgar Catarongan, Land Transportation Office assistant regional director for Central Visayas, said operations of all buses of Corominas Bros. will be suspended and subjected to a roadworthiness test.

All its drivers will be required to undergo a seminar and drug test, he added.

Catarongan said he does not believe that the accident was due to a malfunction of the brakes of the bus.

The bus driver is facing multiple homicide charges and revocation of his license, he added.

Romeo Golle, the Department of Public Works and Highways district engineer, said enough traffic signs were placed along the road to remind motorists to slow down.

It is possible that the bus driver ignored the warnings and violated the speed limit, he added.

Following the accident, DPWH will reportedly install additional traffic signs.

The budget will reportedly be taken from the incoming P30-million appropriation for road repairs in Toledo City.

Officials of the Highway Patrol Group asked motorists to follow the speed limit as provided under Republic Act 4136, the Land Transportation and Traffic Code to avoid road accidents.

The speed limit in country roads is 80 kilometers per hour for cars and motorcycles, and 50 kilometers per hour for trucks and buses.

It is 40 kilometers per hour for cars and motorcycles, and 30 kilometers per hour for trucks and buses in boulevards with no blind corners.

In city and municipal streets with light traffic, the law provides a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour for cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses, including those in crowded streets approaching intersections at blind corners and passing school zones.