Tree stops busload of students from falling off Dalaguete cliff

Tree stops busload of students from falling off Dalaguete cliff

By Jhunnex Napallacan, Marian Z. Codilla, Carmel Loise Matus
Cebu Daily News First Posted 08:35:00 08/21/2010

Nature saved the day, when a mini-bus with 32 passengers, mostly students from Cebu City, rolled down a mountain road in Dalaguete town - with an injured driver - and almost fell into a ravine.

The bus, which had parked for repairs, sped downhill in reverse.

If not for a pine tree at the edge of the cliff that stopped the slide, the busload of graduating students of Don Bosco Technological School would have been statistics of a tragic accident.

The tree stopped the bus from falling into a 500-feet -deep ravine.

“The tree saved their lives. We will tell barangay officials to plant more trees because this is not the first time that lives have been saved by trees,” said Insp. Bonifacio Lucerna, head of the Dalaguete police.

Several students jumped out of the bus in panic.

Minor injuries were reported by 13 on board, including the bus driver Reynaldo Quevedo, who was treated for burns from water splashed from an overheated radiator of the bus.

His license was confiscated pending investigation.

Quevedo, 22, said the bus was in good condition before the trip and that he took the bus on a road test the day before.

The bus had 32 passengers - 29 vocational students of Don Bosco Technical School, two facilitators and their spiritual director, Fr. Ruben Fernandez.

They were on their way to a mountain retreat house in barangay Mantalongon, for a “youth encounter”.

According to police, the mini-bus had mechanical problems along a steep road in sitio Zigzag in barangay Obo.

At about 10 a.m., the bus started to overheat.

The driver told Cebu Daily News he pulled over to check the radiator inside the bus.

While he turned to check the vehicle, water from the hot radiator tank splashed him on the chest, shoulder and right leg. He said his head whipped to the left to avoid getting burned.

At this point, he lost control of the bus, which started moving in reverse. Students on board panicked. Some jumped out the windows.

The slide downhill was stopped only when the rear of the bus hit a 32-year-old pine tree on the road side.

The bus conductor, Virgilio Lenares, jumped off the roof. He injured his right knee when he hit the dirt road.

A truckboy, Daniel Caingles, 20, leaped from his spot in the bus door He said he tried to throw stones on the ground in a futile attempt to stop the vehicle’s slide.

The driver, Quevedo, said he spotted the tree in his side view mirror and maneuvered the vehicle toward it.

“Ako gibangga sa kahoy kay kong ako’y iliko, mas delikado kay basin mangambak ang pasahero (I rammed the tree because if I swerved, it’s more dangerous. Passengers would just jump out), said Quevedo.

He said his burned leg was in pain.

Once the bus halted, passengers hopped out. While students were jumping for joy and laughing in relief, the driver said he couldn’t get off because his legs were swollen.

When the bus got stuck in the tree, Lenares, the conductor, said he tied the left side of the bus to another tree. He feared the pine tree, which had a diameter of 30 meters, was not sturdy enough to support the weight of the bus for long.

The freak accident took place four km from the Mantalongon retreat house and 10 km away from the national highway. Because of its cool temperature, Dalaguete town is known as the summer capital and vegetable basket of Cebu.

The bus “NB Boy” with plate number GWR 993 was heating up on the trip. Its radiator tank had to be refilled four times, according to the driver.

School facilitator Flora Mae Figuracion, 40, suffered a cut on her nose.

Also hurt were Alfie Romina, 17; Jedie Revilla, 17; Dwight Gerard Tabar, 17; Charlene Tripoli, 25; Geralyn Sadora, 18; Jerome Sevilla, 18; - all of Cebu City.

The others were identified as Marcelina Poligratis, 20 of Ronda town; Anthony Mangkikis, 17 of San Fernando; Alvin John Delfino, 22, of Mantalongon Barili; and Uldarico Arboso, 18, of Talisay City.

Two municipal ambulances were sent to the area to fetch the victims. Those wounded were brought to the Julio Cardinal Rosales Hospital and released after treatment.

Only the driver was confined in the hospital for observation.

The students, Father Fernandez and their two school facilitators were allowed to proceed to their retreat house on board a different bus.

Bb Pilipinas titlist Gersbach, 2 others die in road mishap

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) Binibining Pilipinas International 2009 Melody Gersbach, 24, died on the spot late Saturday morning when the car she was riding in collided head-on with a passenger bus, an Army official said.

Two other persons—the driver and couturier of the beauty titlist—also died in the accident, which occurred at 11:45 a.m., said Major Harold Cabunoc, public information officer of the 9th Infantry Division based in Pili, Camarines Sur, who was quoting from initial police reports.

“The accident occurred in Barangay Pawili in Bula, Camarines Sur,” said Cabunoc in a text message.

Gersbach and her companions were on board a Toyota Innova en route to Naga City when it collided with a Guevarra Bus Line driven by Wilson Pontillas.

The bus driver voluntarily surrendered to police, said Cabunoc.

Radio anchor Pio Fernandez of DZGB in Legazpi City confirmed the report at around 3 p.m. in an interview with Peachy Lim, a staff member of a restaurant owned by Gersbach's family in Legazpi City.

By Rey M. Nasol
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 15:36:00 08/21/2010

The two other persons confirmed dead were identified as Dodong Ramos, the driver, and Alden Orense, couturier of the beauty titlist.

A fourth victim identified as Ronald Lita survived the accident and was rushed to the Bicol Medical Center for treatment.

Police said the bus tried to avoid a tricycle when it collided with the Toyota Innova.

A resident of Barangay Culliat in Daraga town in Albay, Gersbach, who was also Ms Bicolandia 2009, left the house at around 9 a.m. to attend a pre-pageant event in connection with the coming celebration of the Peñafrancia Festival in Naga City next month.

Ricky Gonzales, brother of Ramoning, the owner of the Innova van, said the vehicle was a total wreck.

IN THE KNOW: Tragic bus accidents

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:45:00 08/19/2010

Filed Under: Road Accidents

Jan. 20, 1999. A Baguio Bus Lines vehicle bound for La Union from Baguio City overshot a sharp curve on Naguilian Road and plunged 50 meters into a ravine in Barangay Banangan in Benguet province. Among the 22 people killed were the driver and conductor. A heavy fog was reported in the area, but investigators said the driver might have miscalculated the curve and failed to slow down on its approach. Citing survivors’ estimates, they said the bus had been speeding at 96 kilometers per hour. Some bus drivers, on the other hand, blamed government neglect, citing the lack of road signs caused previous accidents.

Feb. 2, 2002. A Norton Bus was negotiating an eroded and narrow dirt road in Barangay Poblacion in Benguet, when it hit a mountainside and fell into a 37-meter ravine, killing 16 people. The accident site was 53 km from Baguio. The bus was bound for Kabayan town in Benguet.

Nov. 24, 2002. A Falcon Bus Liners vehicle lost its brakes and plunged into a 9-meter ravine on Quirino highway in Quezon province, leaving 33 people, including the driver, crushed to death. Police said the Bicol-bound bus was on a sharp downhill curve when it went wayward, smashed into an iron railing and fell. At least six survived.

April 2, 2005. A Dagupan-City bound Victory Liner bus overtook a minibus and failed to avoid an oncoming jeepney on the national highway in Barangay Rabon in Pangasinan province. Eighteen people were killed and 23 others were injured. A bus passenger blamed the driver for the accident.

May 11, 2005. More than 20 minutes after it left Baguio for Dagupan City, a Byron Bus Line bus developed mechanical trouble, turned turtle, and crashed into a roadside boulder along the Marcos Highway in Barangay Badiwan, Benguet. The bus was torn in half and many passengers were thrown out. A total of 27 people died, while 17 others were hurt.

June 13, 2010. A tourist bus filled with mostly Iranian medical and nursing students on their way to the beach plummeted into a 30-meter ravine while negotiating a downhill section of the Trans Central highway at Barangay Cansomoroy in Cebu province. At least 20 were killed while 30 were hurt. Witnesses said the driver was unfamiliar with the snaking road, noting that the vehicle was still going fast downhill.

July 3, 2010. A VJ & A Bus Co. vehicle careened downhill and struck a concrete fence in Toledo City in Cebu, leaving at least 15 people dead and 65 hurt. The bus was said to be overloaded, and the driver was also liable for speeding, police said. Compiled by Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research

Source: Inquirer Archives

Benguet Bus Crash Kills 41

Inquirer Northern Luzon
First Posted 00:46:00 08/19/2010

Filed Under: Road Accidents, Transport accident

SABLAN, Benguet—William Laruan, who is recovering from a stroke, was enjoying the morning sun on his wheelchair outside his shanty on Naguilian Road here on Wednesday when a La Union-bound bus sped toward his direction.

Laruan can only speak with much effort because of his condition, but neighbors heard him yell when the bus struck his roof, throwing him and his wheelchair back into a room filled with fading magazine clippings of movie stars in the 1980s.

“I just had breakfast. I do not know what pushed me back into the room. It was so strong I was thrown out of my wheelchair,” Laruan said.

A few minutes later, 41 passengers of the Eso Nice bus were dead after the vehicle fell into the bottom of a 150-foot deep ravine in Barangay Banangan at about 9:20 a.m. in the deadliest bus accident so far this year.

Faulty brakes

Reports from the police and the Office of Civil Defense here said the bus, with 50 passengers on board, was on its way to San Fernando City when its driver, Romeo Subang Jr., realized that the brakes were failing.

Unable to shift gears, Subang swerved toward a row of shanties in Banangan, calculating that a mango tree near Laruan’s home would be strong enough to stop the bus on its tracks.

Instead, the bus plunged into the ravine, pulling with it the tree and Laruan’s roof.

Some of the accounts recorded by rescue workers came from John Patrick Flores, the bus conductor, who helped take eight passengers to the hospital, including Subang whose rib cage was broken.

Driver watched

Subang was pulled out of the bus still clutching the steering wheel, a rescue worker said. He was put under police watch at Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Baguio City, about 10 kilometers from the crash site.

Among the survivors were Desiree Jucar, 5-year-old John Ray Jucar, Arnel Paras and Jay Angelo Gundran of Baguio; 17-year-old Darwin Lumboy of La Trinidad, Benguet, who was discharged after being treated for bruises; Juan Graycocho of Naguilian town; and Jerome Valdez of San Fernando.

Albert Anthony, 47, died on the way to the hospital.

Desiree Jucar said: “I remember the bus suddenly move very slowly. We did not know what was going on. Suddenly, we were falling.”

Rescuers counted 41 body bags, which were shipped by police and military trucks to the funeral parlors.

Family deaths

Among the dead was a Filipino-American family from Jacksonville, Florida, who were staying in Sablan for a few weeks—Frederick and Rose Quinio, their 11-year-old daughter Nicole, and their 7-year-old son Michael.

Also among the fatalities was Indian national Albert Anthony, 47, of Baguio, who died while being treated at the hospital. His wife, Carlota, also died in the crash.

Rescue volunteers noted that the unluckiest passenger may have been a woman passenger, who boarded the bus at the gates of the Lexber Subdivision, which is a few meters from the accident site.

Police said they had no way of determining whether the woman survived the accident.

Flores said Subang started to be concerned about the condition of the bus brakes when they stopped to pick up the woman, but the driver decided to proceed with the trip.

Flores returned to the crash site with Eso Nice employees, but he was visibly shaken.

A team from the Department of Transportation and Communications is investigating the accident to determine how it would penalize the bus firm.

Traffic slows

Traffic toward La Union was slow. Rescue volunteers from Baguio, the police and the military occupied half the road to pull up both survivors and the dead, using ropes and pulleys.

Some motorists handed out biscuits and candies from their windows as they passed through.

Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan, who was at the crash site, said this was the worst accident so far in the province this year.

He said the government’s task now was to make sure no more accidents would occur, especially because rains pouring almost daily in the Cordillera have made roads leading to Baguio slippery and dangerous.

A few meters from the crash site is a concrete wall that was put up after another bus fell into that ravine a few years ago.

Eroded Naguilian

Naguilian Road has eroded sections that are still in disrepair after these were damaged by landslides triggered by last year’s Typhoon “Pepeng” (international codename: Parma).

The Sablan accident did not occur along the damaged sections of the highway, but Fongwan said the accident “should remind government to start rebuilding those roads, before they truly trigger accidents.”

“The real accident-prone area is in Marcos Highway [which takes in the bigger volume of traffic for Metro Manila-bound vehicles]. There is a sharp slope there which needs fixing or that will forever be an accident area,” Fongwan said.

Restoration work on roads damaged by Pepeng had been delayed by lack of funds and a delayed bidding process for infrastructure funds from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The last major accident in roads leading to and from Baguio was on March 6, when a bus carrying pilgrims from Laguna crashed into a tree on Marcos Highway in Pugo, La Union, killing 12 people. Vincent Cabreza, EV Espiritu and Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon