11 injured as bus plunged off 30-foot cliff in Barili

Eleven persons were injured after the bus they were riding crashed into a concrete fence and fell off a cliff near a beach resort in Barangay Sayaw, Barili at 11 p.m. last Sunday.

PO3 Gilbert Encabo, desk officer, said the passengers suffered injuries in the head and other parts of their bodies.

Ten passengers were rushed to Barili District Hospital: Mauro Ybañez, 51; Elmer Oraga, 42; Maria Fe Delumbar, 55; Robinson Campo, 41; Jovie Temblor, 45; Jay-Ann Ofqueria, 17; Analyn Zamora, 21; Jaylyn Aguilar, 2; Junard Gomez, 28; and Rommel Besario, 25.

Two of the passengers were later transferred to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, but Encabo failed to give their names.

Jenifer Mahigsasa, the driver of the bus owned by Chan Transit, also suffered injuries, but he is now detained in Barili Police Station pending the filing of a complaint of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple injuries.

Investigation showed Mahigsasa lost control of the bus after its engine malfunctioned.

The bus was traveling on a curve when Mahigsasa noticed he could not move the steering wheel.

The bus fell down the cliff, about 30 feet from the main road, after it hit and destroyed the concrete fence of a beach resort.

Mahigsasa denied he was drunk while driving the bus, which came from Cebu South Bus Terminal in Cebu City and was bound for Dumanjug, Cebu.