14 die in Tanay bus crash
Atourist bus transporting college students to a camping site in Rizal crashed into a concrete electric post yesterday morning, killing 14 of its passengers, including the substitute driver and a professor. It also caused injuries to 25 others.
Senior Supt. Randy Peralta, director of the Rizal Provincial Police Office, said the strong impact wrecked the bus and instantly killed 10 passengers.
Six of the victims who died on the spot were identified as Jeid Cabino, Jonahfay Cerezo, Arneline Galauram, Robert Kenneth Pepito, Princess Nina Sentonis, and Lovely Siringan.
Supt. Chitadel Gaorian, Police Regional Office 4-A spokesman, said four of those who died on the spot were female while the rest are male.
The injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, including Juliane Lacordia, the 37-year-old-driver who is in critical condition at the Amang Rodriguez Hospital in Tanay.
“Based on our initial investigation, the bus suffered brakes defect and this resulted in the
driver losing control of the vehicle,” said Peralta.
“The bus hit the temporary barrier of a road widening area and eventually rammed a concrete electric post and a tree on a ravine,” he added.
Bong Bati, training and administrative officer of the disaster management unit of Tanay town, said the impact was so strong it ripped off a large chunk of the roof of the bus and scattered the victims’ belongings, including containers of rice, a stuffed toy, shoes, and a neck pillow. He said many of the dead were piled in a heap of bodies at the front of the passenger cabin.
Most of the fatalities were seated at the left side of the bus which bore the brunt of the crash.
The bus of the Panda Coach and Tours with license plate TXS-325 was transporting a total of 58 students of the Bestlink College of the Philippines based in Novaliches, Quezon City. The students, Peralta said, were supposed to have a camping at Sacramento Adventure Camp inside the Sacramento Valley Resorts in Tanay for a team building.
The bus left the school campus on Quirino Highway, Barangay Sta. Monica, Novaliches, at 6 a.m. It passed through Cogeo, Antipolo, MarikinaInfanta Highway before turning to Sampaloc Road in Tanay.
Police said the bus was only less than 30 minutes from the camp site when the accident happened at about 9:30 a.m. while the bus driver was maneuvering a steep descent in Magnetic Hill, Barangay Sampaloc, Tanay.
Victim’s account
One of the students told police that he noticed a foul smell that seems like a burning tire.
A few minutes later, he said, the bus appeared to have lost its brakes before it slammed into the post.
“Mabilis daw talaga ang takbo ng bus at sa palagay ng mga biktima ay nawalan na nga ng preno bago ito bumagga (The victims said the bus, which was running at high speed, apparently suffered brake problem before it crashed into the electric post),” Carlos Inofre II, campsite reservations officer at Sacramento Adventure Camp, told Manila Bulletin.
“Rescue teams were immediately sent to the accident site and all the victims were taken to the nearest hospitals,” said Gaoiran.
All the fatalities were taken to the San Isidro Funeral Homes in Tanay town.
Dr. Ronnie Noo, chief of the Rizal Provincial Hospital, said they received 28 passengers, three of whom died of severe head injuries.
“We also transferred three passengers to a tertiary hospital,” Noo said.
Garbage truck driver Danny Gutierrez, who helped the victims into ambulances, said some of the survivors wept, while others suffering from broken legs and cuts were too shocked to speak.
Probe In an interview with DZMM, Johna Martires, the bus representative, said the driver started working with the bus firm three months ago and had not submitted results of his drug test since his hiring.
Peralta said he has already instructed his men to conduct a thorough investigation on the accident.
“This is a tourist bus and supposedly this is in good condition. But there are claims that it lost its brakes so we want to know the truth about it because if it is true, hindi naman siguro puwede na lagi na lang nawawalan ng preno,” Peralta told the Manila Bulletin in a separate interview.
Police noted that eight other buses arrived safely at the camp site, according to an unnamed school official.
He said the investigation they would conduct on the accident would be used in filing the necessary charges against those who could be held liable based on the law.
“We are also coordinating with other concerned agencies on our investigation,” said Peralta.
Field trip moratorium
Meanwhile, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, a senior member of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, asked yesterday the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to impose a moratorium on educational tours for students following the tragedy.
Castelo said school authorities should also investigate complaints by parents against exorbitant fees imposed on students for educational field trips.
“Reports reaching us show that schools make a killing out of this scheming practic e of excursions in the guise of educational tours,” he said.
He recalled that a similar field trip tragedy resulted in the death of seven young students of the Bulacan State University, who drowned in the Madlum River in San Miguel town in 2014. (With reports from AP and Ben R. Rosario)