PUGO, La Union January 03 – Three bus occupants, including the bus conductor, died while twenty others were injured after a Quezon City-bound bus suffered mechanical trouble causing the driver to lose control of the same until it rammed into a tree on the right side of the Palispis-Aspiras highway, particularly Ambiongan, Cares, here, around 11 am Tuesday.
Mayor Kurt Walter M. Martin said that two of the fatalities were females while the male fatality was the bus conductor that was pinned between the wreckage of the vehicle and the acacia tree.
However, police authorities have yet to release the identity of the fatalities until such time that their families shao have been informed of the tragic accident involving them.
15 injured passengers were given immediate medical attention at the Pugo rural health unit after sustaining minor injuries due to the said accident.
Further, 5 injured passengers were rushed to the La Union Medical Center (LUMC) for medical treatment where one of them died while being provided with appropriate medical attention. Two of the fatalities died on the spot because of the impact of the collision of the vehicle into the tree.
Initial police investigation showed that the ill-fated bus with 42 passengers left its terminal in Baguio City at around 9:30 am and was bound for Cubao, Quezon City.
Upon reaching the vicinity of the accident site, the hydro back of the vehicle allegedly malfunctioned that caused the driver to reportedly lose control of the same until it rammed into a tree on the side of the road thereby pinning the bus conductor and some passengers on the right side of the bus.
Personnel of the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (MDRRMO), Pugo fire station, Pugo Municipal Police Station and volunteers immediately responded to the accident scene to extricate the pinned passengers.
The conductor was the one to be initially declared dead on the spot by responding rescuers.
Probers are still conducting an in-depth investigation on the cause of the accident while appropriate charges are being readied by the local police against the bus driver.
By Dexter A. See
