MANILA – At least 11 people were killed and 24 others were injured when a passenger bus fell into an 80-foot ravine after it rammed into a pickup along the national highway in Isabela province, Cagayan Valley in the Northern Luzon highlands, police reported on Wednesday.
The sketchy report, received by the Philippine National Police (PNP) national headquarters in suburban Quezon City, Metro Manila, said the accident happened at about 3:30 am., Wednesday on the outskirts of Cauayan City in Isabela.
The accident involved a Dagupan Bus Liner and a pickup driven by an employee of a tobacco company, who was one of the fatalities, the report said.
The report said the bus was bound for the capital town of Tuguegarao in Isabela’s neighboring province of Cagayan when it collided head-on with the vehicle which was going in the opposite direction.
It was in Cagayan where typhoon “Pepeng†(international codename Parma) made landfall in early October and wrought heavy damage as it made its way with its strong winds and heavy rains through extreme Northern Luzon.
According to the report, the collision occurred when the bus driver apparently tried to reach a bridge along the national highway just outside Cauayan City ahead of the pickup.
But in doing so, investigators believe that the bus driver miscalculated and instead rammed into the pickup whose driver was instantly killed.
After the collision, the bus fell into the 80-foot ravine, killing at least 10 of the passengers on board, the report added.
However, rescuers expressed fear that the death toll would increase since most of the bus passengers already rescued have remained in serious condition at the nearest hospitals where they are now confined.
The report quoted one of the rescuers who said they had to use acetylene torches to extricate many of the passengers who were pinned inside as the bus fell into ravine.
The problem was compounded by the difficulty encountered by the rescuers in going down the ravine to reach the dead and the dying, the report said.
In fact, the report said the rescuers thought that the bus driver succeeded in escaping after meeting with the accident.
However, the driver was found seriously injured and hidden by thick bushes about 200 meters away from where the bus landed on the ravine, the report said.
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