PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 27, 2014) – At least 6 people, including 3 children were killed, and scores injured when a passenger bus overturned Sunday on a highway in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, police and witnesses said.
The bus, owned by Rural Transit Mindanao, came from Pagadian City and was travelling to Cagayan de Oro City when the accident occurred near the village of Anonang in Aurora town, according to Senior Inspector Joseph Ortega, a regional police spokesman.
He said the bus was carrying at least 30 passengers. “At least six people are dead from the accident,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said three died on the spot and three more in the hospital.
Ortega said the bus driver, Biato Dumpa, was detained by the police and that an investigation has been launched to determined the cause of the accident.
Police identified the dead as Kent Jhon Lachica, 7; Jorelyn Lachica, 14; Clenie Chiarra Lachica, 16; all residents of Purok Nangka in the village of Maranding in Lanao del Norte’s Lala town; and Lilia Billetes, 60, of Pagadian City; Jhecyl Nicdao, 2, of Bugo village in Cagayan De Oro City, and Revin John Languyan, 3 months old, and a resident of Maragang village in Tigbao town in, Zamboanga Del Sur.
The wounded were identified as Rosalyn Ceniza,29, of Kapatagan town in Lanao Del Norte; Epifania Jumawan, 73, and Anecita Quiapo, 66, both Aurora town in Zamboanga Del Sur; Diosdada Benigay, 53, of Tigbao town of Zamboanga Del Sur; Arjohn Bandico, 16, of Liloy, Zamboanga Del Norte; Mark Dennis Martel, 18, of Lala town in Lanao Del Norte; Marcelisa Nicdao, 29, of Cagayan De Oro City; Evelyn Delosa, 43, of Kapatagan, Lanao Del Norte; Jhon Rey Lachica, 5, and Delia Martel, 42, also of Lala town; John Rey Tayogan, 13, and Jimjim Tayogan, both resident of Kapatagan, Lanao Del Norte; Solomon Soliva, 49, of Liloy town in Zamboanga Del Norte; Janice Lunguyan, 22, of Tigbao town in Zamboanga Del Sur; and Maria Estelita Talampas, 53, and a resident of Cagayan de Oro; and Arlene Apostol, 46, also of Aurora town.
One witness, who took photos of the accident, said one of the children was decapitated and the other had a broken skull. She said a baby was also reported among the dead. Many of the injured passengers were evacuated to hospital by soldiers and policemen who responded to the emergency.
The bus, with body number 1269, overturned on a curve part of the highway and landed on a banana plantation. It was not immediately known whether the two children were among the passengers or villagers. There was no immediate statement from the bus firm about the latest accident.
In February, a chartered Rural bus also overturned following a near collision with another vehicle injuring at least 20 passengers on a highway in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Siay town.
The bus, which came from the regional school sports competition in Marawi City, was carrying mostly teachers from Basilan province and heading to Zamboanga City when the mishap occurred on the village of Monching. (Mindanao Examiner)
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