Passenger van overturns, 15 hurt

At least 14 persons were injured when a passenger van overturned in barangay Cansomoroy, Balamban town, southeast Cebu.

Police said the accident happened in a downhill, zigzagging portion of the Transcentral highway past 7 p.m. Saturday.

“It happened in an accident-prone area,” said PO1 Johnrell Romero of the Balamban police station.

The accident site was the same area where a tourist bus carrying 50 Iranian nationals fell into a ravine, said Romero.

The June 2010 accident killed at least 20 persons including the Filipino bus driver.

Galileo Alibango, the driver of the Hyundai van, told police that he was about to overtake another vehicle when the vehicle’s brake malfunctioned causing him to lose control of the wheel.

The van rolled over thrice and stopped at the edge of a cliff.

Alibango and three passengers sustained severe injuries. They were confined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City while the other wounded passengers were immediately released after receiving treatment.