Sorsogon bus crash: 6 dead

SORSOGON CITY, Philippines—Six persons were killed while 31 others were injured when two buses collided early Thursday along the Maharlika Highway in Matnog, Sorsogon.

The accident took place past midnight in Barangay Pawa, about 6 kilometers from the town proper of Matnog, said Senior Insp. Jerry Cereno, Matnog police chief.

Cereno said the collision happened after an Eagle Star bus, driven by Rudito Calunsod, which came from Manila and was bound for Samar via the Matnog port, overtook a Philtranco bus and rammed head on with an incoming bus, a PP Bus Line driven by Ronnie Olaman and was bound for Manila from the Visayas.

The impact was so intense that it killed on the spot four passengers while another two, including an 8-year-old boy, were declared dead on arrival at the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital, said Cereno.

Most of the injured passengers were rushed to the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital in this city and to the Irosin District Hospital in Irosin town, while eight passengers were brought to the Bicol Regional Teaching and Training Hospital in Legazpi City.

The injured passengers, with ages ranging from as young as 5 months old to 96-years-old, were mostly from the Samar-Leyte areas, Cereno said.

Cereno said the fatalities were brought to Funeraria Tan in Matnog. He said those who died on the spot were Arnulfo Merano, 40, and his wife Emelita, 42, of Sto. Niño, Isabel, Leyte; Reymart Libuan, 11, of Bago, Leyte; and a woman who has yet to be identified.

Those declared dead at the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital were Richie Libuan, 8, the younger brother of Reymart, and Emilia Barcelon Abueva, 54, of Eastern Samar, according to information obtained from the hospital by the Philippine Information Agency in Sorsogon.

This was the second bus crash in the area in Matnog this month, prompting Cereno to caution bus drivers to be extra careful while negotiating the Matnog section of the Maharlika Highway.

The zigzag routes and blind curves along the Matnog route make the area very hazardous and accident prone, said Cereno.