41 die as bus plunges into ravine
Source: Agencies |
August 19, 2010, Thursday
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A PACKED bus negotiating a downhill curve plunged off a Philippine mountain highway into a 30-meter ravine yesterday, killing 41 people.
Nine people, including a 10-year-old boy, survived and eight were taken to hospital, said police chief Wilben Mayor of Benguet province, north of Manila.
Mayor said most of the victims were pinned to death while others were thrown out as the bus tumbled down.
Working into the night, emergency workers have recovered the last of the 41 bodies from the twisted wreckage, said regional disaster agency director Olivia Mercado-Luces.
Twenty-six have been identified so far, including four members of a Filipino-American family on their way back to the United States after visiting relatives. An Indian national living in the Philippines also died.
The victims' remains, including a toddler's, were put in body bags on the highway and were later taken to funeral parlors.
The bus zoomed between a tree and a house and plunged into the ravine, Mayor said. The driver, who survived with a broken leg, would be investigated.
John Patrick Flores, the bus conductor, said the brakes on the bus failed as the driver was negotiating a downhill curve. He said the driver was aiming to hit a lamppost to stop the bus from falling but missed and it jumped over a 30 centimeter road barrier.
"I jumped off the bus to the side of the road before the bus plunged into the ravine," Flores said. He suffered only minor bruises.
He said he was the first person to reach the bus and carried the 10-year-old boy with a broken leg up the ravine. Local residents helped rescue other passengers.
The bus was carrying about 50 people from the northern mountain city of Baguio when it crashed in Sablan township, about 12 kilometers away.
Nine people, including a 10-year-old boy, survived and eight were taken to hospital, said police chief Wilben Mayor of Benguet province, north of Manila.
Mayor said most of the victims were pinned to death while others were thrown out as the bus tumbled down.
Working into the night, emergency workers have recovered the last of the 41 bodies from the twisted wreckage, said regional disaster agency director Olivia Mercado-Luces.
Twenty-six have been identified so far, including four members of a Filipino-American family on their way back to the United States after visiting relatives. An Indian national living in the Philippines also died.
The victims' remains, including a toddler's, were put in body bags on the highway and were later taken to funeral parlors.
The bus zoomed between a tree and a house and plunged into the ravine, Mayor said. The driver, who survived with a broken leg, would be investigated.
John Patrick Flores, the bus conductor, said the brakes on the bus failed as the driver was negotiating a downhill curve. He said the driver was aiming to hit a lamppost to stop the bus from falling but missed and it jumped over a 30 centimeter road barrier.
"I jumped off the bus to the side of the road before the bus plunged into the ravine," Flores said. He suffered only minor bruises.
He said he was the first person to reach the bus and carried the 10-year-old boy with a broken leg up the ravine. Local residents helped rescue other passengers.
The bus was carrying about 50 people from the northern mountain city of Baguio when it crashed in Sablan township, about 12 kilometers away.
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