8 hurt in Zamboanga bus attack

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Eight people were slightly injured when unidentified armed men opened fire on a passenger bus in Barangay (village) Muti here around 11:55 p.m. Tuesday, the police said.

Chief Superintendent Billy Beltran, the Western Mindanao police director, said the Rural Transit bus with license plate JVH447 was heading for Pagadian City with 35 passengers when “rapidly shot with the use of rifles” upon reaching Km. 58 in Sitio Buenavista.

Colonel Juvymax Uy, the commander of Task Force Zamboanga, said soldiers detailed near the area responded to the incident and had briefly engaged the suspects, who had immediately fled on foot.

Uy said the injured passengers were provided first aid by Marine soldiers before they were brought to the Christino Paragas Memorial Hospital in Barangay Quiniput.

The rest of the passengers were able to reach their destination when the management of Rural Transit dispatched a replacement bus on Wednesday dawn, Beltran said. CDG