2 dead as a passenger bus fell on a mountainside in Maasin City

By BONG PEDALINO
August 24, 2010

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte  –  The emergency room at the Salvacion Oppus Yñiguez Memorial Provincial Hospital (SOYMPH)  became a beehive of activity as many passengers injured in a bus crash accident were rushed here this morning.

Initial sketchy reports received by PIA this morning disclosed that a bus, named Honor 2, was full of passengers when it fell off a cliff in barangay Sta. Cruz, an upland village, while on its way to the city proper from barangay Libertad.

It was learned that Police, firemen rescue units, and paramedics were already at the crash site when PIA received a text message from Angie Book, correspondent of Southern Leyte Times, a local weekly.

The accident, sources said, reportedly happened around 8:00 to 9:00 o’clock this morning.

Barangay Sta. Cruz is located directly above barangay San Rafael or Bantig, an interior, upland barangay which is about 15 kilometers away from the city proper to the north.

According to Police officer Renato Cervantes, quoting the driver, Lonie Paloma, the steering wheel of the vehicle malfunctioned, and he lost control just as he negotiated a curved portion of the mountain road turning right, and so it fell about 25 to 30 feet deep down.

As this report was written, the driver is now at the San Rafael Police station for further inquiry, Cervantes said, while his injuries were treated at the the Rural Health Unit office in that barangay.

He identified the two fatalities as Anita Meneses, from barangay Libertad, and Porferio Serito, Jr. from barangay San Agustin, both mature adults with ages not yet known as of the moment.

At the SOYMPH, survivors were treated for their cuts and wounds in the head, faces, and other parts of the body.

A child by the nickname Jayvee, 7 years old, miraculously survived unscathed, save perhaps the traumatic experience of tumbling with the falling bus at least four times down a mountain slope.  Other children suffered bruises in arms and legs.

Most stories narrated by survivors said that around 30 passengers were riding on the ill-fated bus, but the vehicle was also heavy as it was loaded with sacks of dried copra at the top and inside, to be sold at the copra buyer in the city.

Emiliana, one of the passengers with sacks of copra cargo, said she intended to sell the copra to pay for the school needs of her children.