46 injured as bus falls in Southern Leyte ravine

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte—At least 46 passengers were injured, three of them seriously, when a bus fell into a ravine in the municipality of Sogod in Southern Leyte Thursday morning.

Police said they were looking into reports that the bus was racing with another bus when the accident occurred in the village of Kahupian.

Senior Insp. Alfred Daus, Sogod police chief, said Super 5 bus with plate number NYP 343 was bound for Manila from Davao City when it reportedly lost its brakes past 7 a.m. The bus then crashed through the railings near a bridge and fell into a 10-foot-deep ravine, Daus said.

“We are still looking into a report that the bus was racing with another bus,” Daus said.

A radio report in Sogod said that the driver of the bus, identified as Virgilio Andon, was still unconscious as of noon Thursday. Two others who were seriously injured were not identified.

The Sogod police chief said all the passengers were still at the hospital as of Thursday afternoon, pending clearance from the doctors.

The Sogod police, the Mobile Patrol Group of the Southern Leyte police and the Army’s 8th Infantry Division led the rescue operations.