1 dead, 18 hurt in Manila bus collision

A retired teacher was killed while 18 persons, all of them passengers, were injured when a bus that had lost its brakes crashed Monday morning into another bus along a busy street in Manila.

Erlinda Magallanes, 70, of Bernadette Subdivision in Pandacan, was declared dead on arrival by attending doctors at the Medical Center Manila from injuries on the head and body.

Other passengers, who were hurt in the accident, were taken to the Sta. Ana Hospital, Medical Center Manila and other nearby hospitals for treatment of injuries.

Manila Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit (MPD-TEU) head Superintendent Reynaldo Nava identified the driver of the Pandacan Transport bus (NVC 585), which had allegedly lost its brakes, as Arnel Ampeloquio, who was among those injured in the mishap. Magallanes was among his seven passengers.

Nava said that the incident happened around 9:15 a.m. along Otis Street in Paco while a Quiapo-bound Pandacan Transport bus (TYV 520) with 11 passengers aboard and driven by Renato Pamplona was cruising along its route.

Nava explained that the other bus driven by Ampeloquio suddenly slammed into the rear of the other vehicle, causing passengers to fly off their seats. Magallanes, Nava theorized, could have hit her head hard against a railing of the bus.

The persons injured in the mishap were immediately taken to the nearest hospitals but efforts to save the 70-year-old woman proved futile.

Ampeloquio, who had to be helped by rescuers after he was pinned under the steering wheel and dashboard, remains in the custody of the MPD-TEU and is facing a charge of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, multiple physical injury, and damage to property before the City Prosecutor’s Office.