IN THE KNOW: Deadliest accidents in Northern Luzon
Aug. 18, 2010 – Sablan, Benguet: 42 dead
A La Union-bound Eso-Nice bus plunged into a 45-meter ravine in Sablan, Benguet, killing 42 of its 50 passengers. The accident led then Department of Transportation and Communications to investigate the “kabit” system, an illegal arrangement where a bus company allows other bus owners to operate using its franchise.
May 11, 2005 – Tuba, Benguet: 27 dead, 17 injured
More than 20 minutes after it left Baguio City for Dagupan City, a Byron bus developed mechanical trouble, overturned and crashed into a roadside boulder on Marcos Highway in Barangay Badiwan in Tuba, Benguet. The bus was torn in half and many passengers were thrown out.
Feb. 2, 2002 – Bokod, Benguet: 16 dead
A Norton bus was negotiating an eroded and narrow dirt road in Barangay Poblacion in Bokod, Benguet, when it hit a mountainside and fell into a
37-meter ravine, 53 kilometers from Baguio City. The bus was bound for Kabayan town in Benguet.
Feb. 7, 2014 – Bontoc, Mountain Province: 14 dead
Comedian “Tado” (Arvin Jimenez) and 13 others were killed when a Florida bus fell into a ravine on the outskirts of Bontoc, Mountain Province. The bus came from Manila and was carrying mostly tourists, including two foreigners, who died in the crash.
March 6, 2010 – Pugo, La Union: 12 dead
A PJM Love Bus from Laguna crashed into an acacia tree on Marcos Highway in Barangay Palina in Pugo, La Union, killing 12 passengers. The bus was carrying 50 people from Sta. Rosa, Laguna, who visited churches in Baguio City. They were leaving the city when the bus malfunctioned.
Feb. 21, 2013 – Tuba, Benguet: 7 dead
Thirty-one students of Marinduque State College were on the Baguio leg of a Manila-Ilocos-Baguio field trip and were being driven back to Manila, along with two teachers and two tour guides, when the bus driver lost control of the vehicle, which collided with a food container truck on Marcos Highway at Sitio Bontiwey in Barangay Badiwan in Tuba, Benguet.
March 12, 2012 – Carranglan, Nueva Ecija: 6 dead
A dump truck was struck by a trailer truck, killing six people as the two vehicles negotiated Maharlika Highway-Cagayan Valley Road in Barangay Putlan, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija. Twelve others were injured.
July 12, 2016 – Carranglan, Nueva Ecija: 5 dead
A bus traveling to Manila from Tuguegarao City in Cagayan province, fell on its side after hitting a roadside barrier on a portion of Maharlika Highway-Cagayan Valley Road, also in Barangay Putlan, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija. Five passengers, including two pregnant women, were killed and 30 others were injured.
Oct. 29, 2011 – Bauko, Mountain Province: 5 dead, 38 injured
An Isuzu Elf truck carrying wedding guests from Benguet fell into a ravine in Bauko, Mountain Province. It was traveling along a section of Halsema Highway in Sitio Lukib in Barangay Monamon Surin, Bauko, when the driver lost control of the vehicle. —COMPILED BY INQUIRER RESEARCH AND GOBLETH MOULIC
Sources: Inquirer Archives
