At least 14 dead in bus accident in northern Philippines

Fourteen people, including two foreign-tourists, were killed after a passenger bus from Manila fell into a 120-meter ravine in a mountainous area along the Banaue-Bontoc Road in sitio Paggang, Barangay Talubin in Bontoc town on Friday morning.

The crash happened in Bontoc, a resort town 280 kilometres (175 miles) north of Manila known for its mountainside rice terraces.

Thirty-one others were injured, said Police Provincial Director Oliver Enmodias.

Police reported that a Florida (TXT 872) passenger bus was negotiating a difficult part of the road in Bontoc town, near the boundary of Ifugao and Mountain Province when it plunged into the ravine.

The Office of Civil Defence said the bus from Manila had about 47 passengers on board. Fairlane Amungan, a provincial disaster response official, said authorities were still determining the exact number of people on the bus as they searched for more victims.

The bus came from its terminal in Sampaloc, Manila. The accident happened at around 7:20 a.m.

Supt. Ramir Saculles, Mt. Province deputy police director for Operations, said that most of the recovered bodies were mutilated due to the impact of the crash.

Fourteen of the passengers died on the spot including a Canadian and a Dutch national, he said.

Among the injured were a Dutch woman and the driver of the bus, who were taken to hospital, Enmodias added.

Local police spokesman Superintendent Davy Vicente Limmong said they suspect human error or a mechanical problem was the cause of the accident, as there was no traffic and the weather was clear

Saculles said that there is a possibility that the driver of the bus dosed off. He also mentioned that mechanical trouble could have also caused the accident.

Mt. Province Gov. Leonard Mayaen assured that the local government will do its best to be able to provide the needs of the victims.

Poorly-maintained buses are the backbone of land transport in the Philippines but they have been involved in frequent accidents, leading to calls for tighter regulations

Friday 07 February 2014

http://www.theprovince.com/news/crashes+ravine+Philippines+killing+injuring+including+Dutch/9478976/story.html