PUGO, La Union – The management of the Victory Liner Bus Co. assured that it will extend whatever appropriate support to the victims of the recent road crash that caused the untimely death of 3 bus occupants and inflicting injuries to twenty other passengers.
Arnel Gabaig, Victory Liner terminal master in Baguio City, together with some personnel of the bus company, visited the victims who were confined and treated at the La Union Medical center in nearby Agoo town and those who sought further medical attention at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGMC) to provide for their medical needs while confined or undergoing treatment in the said health facilities.
He said that the company will shoulder all the medical expenses of those who were treated in various medical facilities in La Union and Baguio city while the families of the deceased bus occupants will also be provided with assistance.
The terminal master claimed that the family of the bus conductor who was one of the fatalities will be getting the necessary benefits from the management and the employees union.
Earlier, 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 bus until it rammed into a tree on the right side of the Palispis-Aspiras highway, particularly Ambiongan, Cares, here, around 11 am Tuesday, January 3rd.
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.
Martin identified the fatalities as Josefino Rambaoa, bus conductor, a native of San Fabian, Pangasinan; Hydelene Hufular, 23 and a resident of San Fernando City, La Union and Mervilyn Lagmay, 26, and a resident of Mandaluyong City.
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 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 hydroback of the vehicle allegedly malfunctioned that caused the driver to reportedly lose control of the bus 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.
