Seven people hurt after bus falls into canal in Oslob town

A sleepy bus driver and six others were injured after he drove a Ceres Bus into a six-foot-deep canal in Oslob town, southern Cebu, yesterday.

Driver Nelson Georfo, 38,  of Aloguinsan town was negotiating a road curve in sitio Flaminia, barangay Mainit when the accident happened.

The bus, with body number 8955 and plate number GXB 727, came from Bato, Samboan town in the southern tip of Cebu and was heading to Cebu City when it fell into  the ditch  at 7:45 a.m., said P02 William Cordova, assistant investigator of the Oslob police.

Georfo, the bus  conductor, and five other passengers were injured and later brought  to a hospital for treatment.

Georfo was injured in the hand and chest. Passenger Pacita Manubag, 49, suffered a shoulder injury and is being checked for possible injury to her spine. They were confined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Conductor Robert Juarez, 27, of Minglanilla town and passengers Chessa Licayan, 30, of Sibulan, Negros Oriental; Clifford Figues, 17, of Oslob; Michelle Redobles, 22, of Calatrava, Negros Oriental; Jennifer Miramon, 32, of  Santander were all confined at the Oslob District Hospital for bruises.

One of the passengers  told police that the driver fell asleep on the wheel.

Bus Conductor Juarez said that he also noticed that Georfo kept honking his horn a few minutes before the accident, possibly a gesture to keep himself alert.

There was loose talk about passengers who saw a “white lady” cross the road, which was the subject of local lore as a haunted road.

PO2  Cordova  said police are more inclined to believe that the driver was sleepy, a condition that led  to the accident.

The driver  started his route at 1 a.m.  from Cebu City to Samboan town.

After ferrying his passengers there, he traveled back to Cebu City.

Anselmo Ambos Jr., Ceres Bus branch manager,  said in a radio dyLA interview that it was hard to believe Georfo fell asleep at the wheel since  he wasn’t on duty on the day before.

Anselmo said Georfo was well rested and went on duty only yesterday.

The bus firm  assigns  its drivers on shifts to ensure 24-hour operations.

With the Christmas and New Year holidays, the past days have been peak demand for bus rides to the province.

Anselmo assured that the bus firm was attending to the needs of the injured passengers especially,  Manubag. /With a report from Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus