24 hurt as Bicol-bound bus falls into ravine in Quezon

LUCENA CITY – At least 24 persons were hurt when a passenger bus bound for Bicol fell into a ten-foot ravine along the Maharlika Highway in Calauag town in Quezon province shortly before midnight Sunday, January 3.

Chief Inspector Noel Divino, Calauag police chief, in a report said that a Mega Bus (AAI 1363) was negotiating a curved, descending section of the highway in Barangay Bagong Silang when the driver, Felicito Gison, lost control of the vehicle.

The bus subsequently careened into a ravine at the right side of the road, he said.

A villager alerted the local police station of the accident through their hotline mobile phone number, Divino said in a phone interview.

A team of policemen, firemen and rescuers was immediately dispatched to the accident site some 20 kilometers from the town proper, Divino said.

He said there were about 24 injured passengers who were rushed to the St. Peter General Hospital in Calauag town proper and to the Magsaysay Memorial District Hospital in nearby Lopez town.

Seven of the victims: Reggie Alegre Arma, 2; Lorna Monterola Laurente, 62; Jonh Joryl Rosanto Montes, 10; Emily Tamayo Rosanto, 52; Jekim Tamayo Rosanto, 19; Adrian Jones Resonia Ybañez, 4; and Jarren Dave Rosanto Montes, 5, are still confined at the St. Peter General Hospital due to varying degrees of injury.

The bus driver is detained at the Calauag police jail pending the filing of charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple physical injuries and damage to property, Divino said. CB

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