Nineteen people were killed in a bus crash on Tuesday night in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, a province in Southwestern Luzon.
The bus, owned by Dimple Star, was on its way to Manila from San Jose town when it hit the railing of the Patrick Bridge and fell 20 meters into a ravine. The police said that the incident happened at around 9pm.
Included in the fatalities were the bus driver Arno Panganiban and conductor Erwin Ebuenga. According to The Philippine Star, the 21 injured were brought to the Mamburao District Hospital and San Sebastian District Hospital.
Dimple Star management said they will take care of all the victims’ expenses.
Initial police investigations show that the driver lost control of the brakes. “A surviving passenger recalled the driver yelling at them to hold on because the bus had lost its brakes,” police investigator Alexis Go told The Philippine Star.
In response to the incident, the Philippines’ Land and Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday suspended 10 Dimple Star buses that take the San Jose to Manila and Manila to San Jose route. According to ABS-CBN News, Dimple Star also decided to cancel all trips to and from Occidental Mindoro.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada called on to bus companies and reminded that they are responsible for people’s lives.
“It should not just be money making. Bus operators must remember that lives are in the hands of their buses and drivers,” she said in Filipino and English.
This isn’t the first time a Dimple Star bus has been in an accident. In 2011, one of their buses fell off the Skyway at the South Luzon Expressway, killing the driver and two passengers.
