Bus hits 13 vehicles in Catbalogan: 1 dead, 9 hurt
One person was killed and nine others were injured yesterday when a private bus plowed into 13 vehicles along the street of Catbalogan City, as it arrived for the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) meet for in that city in western Samar.
Police said the bus reportedly lost its brakes and plowed into five tricycles and seven cars along Rizal Avenue, some of which were parked on the side street, until it ended hitting the parked vehicle of the Office of the Catbalogan City Rescue Team, just beside the City Hall.
The bus (with plate no. 073208) came from Tacloban City and was transporting officials and personnel of the Department of Education who were part of the 36-member Tacloban delegation for the EVRAA event scheduled to start today (February 3).
Superintendent Marlowe Torina, chief of the Catbalogan Police, said that initial investigation showed that all the bus passengers were safe, while nine people in the rammed vehicles were injured and the tricycle driver, 65-yearold Adriano Sonio, died on the scene.
The wounded victims were identified as Nelson Quijano Mabilangan, 34, Maria Evelyn Roque, 27, Elena Roque Jabiquero, 62, Monalisa Cuna, 44, Ricardo Paragatos, 47, Eusebio Lama, 49, Danilo Escuerdo 41, a six-year-old boy and his 34-yearold mother. They were brought to the Samar Provincial Hospital in Catbalogan.
Torina said a medical team from Tacloban was immediately sent to Catbalogan to attend to the needs of its athletic delegation as well as extend help to the injured victims from the vehicles hit by the bus.
The bus driver, identified as 55year-old Aniceto Lumbre from Calanipawan in Tacloban, escaped unharmed but is now detained at the Catbalogan Police station, while charges are being readied for filing against him. —